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THE  LIBRARY 

BR,GHAM  YOUNG  UNIVERSITY 

PROVO,  UTAH 


A 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2011  with  funding  from 
Brigham  Young  University 


http://www.archive.org/details/shorthistoryofen18993gree 


A   SHORT    HISTORY 


OF    THE 


ENGLISH     PEOPLE 


OLD    LONDON    BRIDGE 


About  1600,  a.d., 


The  earliest  genuine  full  view,  from  a  unique  drawing  in  Pepys's  Collection  in  Magdalen  College,  Cambridge,  reproduced,  by  permission,  from  a  photo-chromo-lithograph 

made  for  the  NEW  SHAKSPERE  SOCIETY,  1881,  by  W.  Griggs. 


'A 

A   SHORT   HISTORY 


OF   THE 


ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


BY 

J.  R.  GREEN,  M.A. 


Illustrated  E&ition 

EDITED    BY 

Mrs.  J.  R.  GREEN  and  Miss  KATE  NORGATE 


VOL.  III. 


NEW    YORK 
HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    FRANKLIN     SQUARE 

1894 


THE  LIBRARY 

BRIGHAM  YOUNG  UNIVERSITY 

PROVO,  UTAH 


CONTEXTS 


PAGE 

Notes  ox  the  Illustrations lv — lxxxii 


CHAPTER   VIII 

PURITAN     EXGLAXD 

Sect.  i. — The  Puritans,  1583 — 1603 935 

„      2. — The  First  of  the  Stuarts,  1604 — 1623 967 

,,     3. — The  King  and  the  Parliament,  1623 — 1629 10 17 

,,     4. — New  England 1043 

,,     5. — The  Personal  Government,  1629 — 1640 ic6y 

,,     6. — The  Long  Parliament,  1640 — 1642      1111 

,,     7.  — The  Civil  War,  July  1642 — August  1646 1141 

„     8. — The  Army  and  the  Parliament,   1646 — 1649 1176 

„     9. — The  Commonwealth,  1649 — 1653 1205 

,,   10. — The  Fall  of  Puritanism,  1653 — 1660 1233 

CHAPTER  IX 

THE      REVOLUTION 

Sect.  i. — England  and  the  Revolution 1286 

,,     2. — The  Restoration,  1660 — -1667       131 7 

,,     3. — Charles  the  Second,  1667 — 1673 1351 

„     4.— Danby,  1673— 1678 1383 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Old  London  Bridge,  c.  a.d.  1600 Frontispiece  to  Vol.  III. 

Reproduced,  by  permission,  from  a  photo-chromolithograph  made  for  the 
New  Shakspere  Society  from  a  drawing  in  Pepys'  Collection  at  Magdalene 
College,  Cambridge.     This  is  the  earliest  genuine  view  of  London  Bridge. 

The  bridge  itself  was  built  1 176-1209.  Between  the  Middlesex  shore  and 
the  first  pier  next  that  side  stand  the  waterworks,  built  1582.  On  the  eighth 
pier  stands  the  Bridge  Chapel,  dedicated  to  S.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  The 
twelfth  pier  (seventh  from  the  Surrey  side)  was  formerly  occupied  by  a  draw- 
bridge tower,  on  the  top  of  which  traitors'  heads  were  set.  In  1576  this 
tower,  "being  in  great  decay,'"'  was  taken  down,  and  in  its  stead  was  put  up, 
c.  1584,  "a  pleasant  and  beautiful  dwelling-house/'  made  entirely  of  wood, 
and  called  Nonesuch  House.  It  was  made  in  Holland,  brought  over  in  pieces, 
and  put  together  entirely  with  wooden  pegs.  Between  Nonesuch  House  and 
the  next  block  of  buildings  is  a  wooden  drawbridge,  "to  let  masted  or  big 
boats  through."  On  the  third  pier  from  Surrey  side  is  another  curious 
wooden  edifice,  consisting  of  four  round  turrets  connected  by  a  curtain  and 
embattled,  and  enclosing  several  small  habitations,  with  a  broad  covered 
passage  beneath,  the  building  itself  overhanging  the  bridge  on  both  side-  ; 
this  dated  from  1577-9.  On  the  next  pier  stands  Southwark,  or  Traitors' 
Gate,  built  at  the  same  time  ;  here  the  traitors'  heads  were  placed  after  the 
demolition  of  the  old  drawbridge  tower.  The  last  two  arches  on  the  Surrey 
side  are  occupied  by  Southwark  corn-mills,  built  c.  1588.  The  rest  of  the 
buildings  on  the  bridge  were  dwelling-houses  and  shops. 

Monument  to  John  Stowe to  face  page    934 

Stowe,  a  tailor  by  trade,  is  famous  as  the  historian  and  topographer  of 
London.  He  died  in  1605,  and  this  monument  was  placed  by  his  widow  over 
his  tomb  in  the  church  of  S.  Andrew  Undershaft,  Leadenhall  Street.  It  is  of 
veined  English  alabaster,  with  black  marble  introduced  in  the  frieze,  and  a 
white  marble  plinth.  The  use  of  English  alabaster  seems  to  prove  it  to  be  of 
native  workmanship.  The  quill  pen  placed  in  the  hand  of  the  figure  has  had 
to  be  replaced  many  times,  having  been  stolen  by  visitors  who  imagined  it  to 
be  the  identical  one  with  which  Stowe  wrote  his  chronicles.  The  decoration 
on  the  sides  is  mostly  allegorical  ;  ornaments  made  of  books,  crossed  ink-horns, 
bones  and  shovels,  the  flame  rising  from  a  lamp,  and  a  skull.  The  coat  of 
arms  above  is  of  very  singular  design.  The  monument,  the  detail  of  which  it 
is  peculiarly  difficult  to  see  in  its  actual  position,  has  been  drawn  specially  for 
this  book. 

Illustration  on  Title-page  of  "Commonplaces  of  Christian  Religion,"' 

1563 938 

Preaching   before  the  King   and  Prince   of  Wales   at  Paul's  Cr   ss, 

1616. 939 

From  a  picture  in  the  collection  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.  This 
"Cross,"  or  pulpit,  was  built  (on  the  site  of  an  earlier  one)  towards  the  end 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  The  frame  was  of  timber,  the  steps  of  stone,  the 
roof  of  lead.  It  was  razed  by  order  of  Parliament  in  1642-3  ;  preaching  in  it 
had   ceased   in    1633.     The   picture   represents   Dr.  John   King,   Bishop   of 


hi  NOTES   ON   THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

London,  preaching  in  1616  before  the  King,  Queen,  and  Prince  of  Wales, 

who   are   seated  in  a  sort   of  bay  jutting  out   from   the   gallery  facing  the 

spectator. 
Colonel   Hutchinson    and    his    Son  {Picture  by   R.    Walker,  formerly   at 

Owthorpe) 94° 

"The  English  Gentleman"  {Braithwait,  "  The  English  Gentleman"  second 

edition,  1633) 94"2 

"The  English  Gentlewoman"   {Braithwait,   "The  English  Gentlewoman;' 

1631) 943 

A  Puritan  Family ■ 944 

Frontispiece  to  a  music-book,  "Tenor  of  the  whole  Psalms  in  4  Parts  .  .  . 
set  forth  for  the  encrease  of  vertue  and  the  abolishynge  of  other  vayne  and 
tryflyng  ballades,"  London,  1563. 

John  Milton,  aged  ten  years  {Picture  by  Cornelius  Jansscn,  in  the  possession 

of  Mr.  Edgar  Disney,  of  the  Hyde,  Ingatestone) 945 

Organ  positive,  early  seventeenth  century  {South  Kensington  Museum)      946 
The  organ  on  which  Milton  played  was  probably  an  instrument  of  this 
kind.     It  was  called  "positive,"  as  being  intended  to  occupy  a  fixed  position 
on  a  stand  or  table,  unlike  the  earlier  "  portative  "  shown  in  p.  396. 

The  Mother  of  Oliver  Cromwell 949 

From  an  original  portrait  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Russell  Astley,  of 
Chequers  Court,  who  has  kindly  had  it  photographed  for  reproduction  in  this 
book.     Mrs.  Cromwell  was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  Steward,  of  Ely. 

Brass  of  Humphry  Willis,  Esq 950 

Humphry  Willis  died  in  1618,  aged  twenty-eight  years.  This  memorial  of 
him,  placed  in  Wells  Cathedral  by  his  widow,  is  a  curious  illustration  of 
Puritan  modes  of  thought.  The  dead  man's  shield,  charged  with  the  arms  of 
his  family,  hangs  behind  him  on  a  shattered  tree  labelled  "Broken,  not  dead, 
I  live  in  hope  "  ;  to  the  plumed  hat,  the  buckled  shoes,  the  broken  sword,  the 
cards  and  dice,  the  tennis-racket  and  the  viol,  which  he  leaves  behind  him,  he 
exclaims,  "  Vain  things,  farewell  "  ;  instead  of  them  he  turns  to  the  "Armour 
of  God"  and  the  "Word  of  Life,"  praying,  "  Give  me  these,  O  Lord"  ;  an 
angel  replies,  "  To  him  that  asketh,  it  shall  be  given,"  and  holds  out  the  book 
of  life,  while  another,  holding  a  crown,  says,  "Take  it,  thou  hast  conquered." 
The  two  birds  and  the  hand  in  the  upper  corner  may  represent  the  Christian 
soul  and  its  refuge,  figured  by  the  dove  sheltered  in  Noah's  ark. 

John  Bunyan  {Drawing  by  Robert  White,  in  British  Museum) 951 

A  Family  Meal,  early  seventeenth  century  {Ballad  in  Roxburghe  Col- 
lection, British  Museum) 952 

Thomas  Cartwright  {S.  Clark,  "Lives  of  Eminent  Persons") 954 

Richard  Hooker  {Picture  in  National  Portrait  Gallery) 956 

John  Whitgift,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  {Engraving  by  G.  Vertue)  .  .  959 
Richard  Bancroft,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  {Engraving  by  G.  Vertue).  960 
George  Abbot,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  {Engravi7ig  by  Simon  Pass)  .    .      961 

An  English  Printing-office,  1619 964 

From  the  title-page  of  R.  Pont  (Pontanus),  "De  Sabbaticorum  annorum 
periodis  Digestio,"  printed  by  William  Jones,  1619. 

Leicester's  Hospital,  Warwick 965 

A  most  interesting  group  of  buildings.  The  gate  is  the  old  west  gate  of  the 
town,  and  dates  from  the  thirteenth  century  ;  the  tower  was  added  by  Thomas 
Beauchamp,  Earl  of  Warwick,  under  Richard  II.  Close  beside  the  gate  the 
united  gilds  of  Holy  Trinity,  S.  Mary  and  S.  George  reared  their  Hall,  in  the 
sixth  year  of  Richard's  reign.  In  37  Hen.  VIII.  the  gild  was  dissolved  ;  in 
4  Ed.  VI.  the  hall  was  granted  to  Sir  Nicolas  Le  Strange  ;  under  Mary  it 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  bailiff  and  burgesses  ;  these  conveyed  it  in  1571 
to  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  he  turned  it  into  a  "  Maison-Dieu,"  or  hospital, 
for  a  master  and  twelve  brethren,  and  appointed  Thomas  Cartwright  the  first 
master. 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATION-  lvii 


PAGE 

"The  Map  of  Mock-beggar  Hall,  with  his  situation  in  the  spac: 

country  called  Anvwhere*'  (Roxbnrghe  Ballcuf) 966 

At  the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  throughout  the  reign  of  James  I.  and 
the  early  years  of  Charles,  there  was  much  complaining  in  the  rural  districts 
because  the  nobles  and  gentry  flocked  up  to  London,  leaving  their  country  houses 
empty  and  neglected,  so  that  where  in  former  times  there  had  been  feasting 
for  rich  and  poor  alike,  a  beggar  could  not  now  get  a  crust  of  bread.  To  the 
houses  thus  deserted  was  given  the  nickname  of  "  Mock-beggar  Hall."  One 
result  of  this  gathering  to  the  Court  was  that  for  the  first  time  news  of  the 
doings  there  were  carried  back  to  every  district  throughout  England,  and  thus 
became  a  matter  of  criticism  to  the  country  at  large. 

Ignatius  de  Loyola  (Rose,  " S.  Ignatius de Loyola") 96S 

From  a  picture  by  Coello,  in  the  house  of  the  Jesuits  at  Madrid. 

"Fishing  for  Souls,"  1614 970 

From  a  picture  by  Adrian  van  de  Venne,  in  the  Museum  at  Amsterdam. 
An  allegorical  representation  of  the  religious  strife  of  the  time.  On  the  left  of 
the  spectator  is  a  group  of  Protestants,  in  the  midst  of  them  preachers  in 
boats,  one  of  whom  holds  up  to  the  men  in  the  water  around  a  Bible  inscribed 
"  Evangelio  Piscatores,  16 14  '"  ;  the  ships  on  the  right  are  filled  with  Catholic 
bishops,  priests,  and  monks,  and  the  Catholics  are  grouped  on  the  shore  near 
them.     Many  of  the  figures  are  portraits. 

George  Herbert  (Engraving  by  Robert  White] 972 

James  I.   (Picture  by  P.  van  Somer,  in  National  Portrait  Gallery) 975 

CONVOCATION,    1623-4  (Contemporary print  in  British  Museum) 977 

The  Nation  and  its  Riotous  Governors,  1603 97S 

From  a  satirical  print  in  the  British  Museum.  The  figures  of  the  various 
people  striving  to  mount  the  ass  which  represents  England,  of  the  poor  man 
who  begs  the  judge  to  supersede  them,  and  of  the  judge  who  wisely  declines 
to  meddle  in  the  fray,  illustrate  not  merely  the  costume  but  also  the  temper  of 
the  people  with  whom  James  had  to  deal  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  and 
their  view  of  the  political  situation. 

Queen  Elizabeth  opening  Parliament 0S2 

From  R.  Glover's  "  Nobilitas  politica  et  civilis,"  1608.  This  is  probably 
the  earliest  authentic  representation  of  a  meeting  of  the  House  of  Lords  :  for 
in  that  on  p.  445  there  is  a  confusion  of  dates,  and  the  Peer^gathered  round 
Henry  VIII.  in  p.  691  are  evidently  very  informally  grouped.  In  the  present 
illustration  the  arrangement  of  the  House,  save  that  the  mitred  abbots  have 
disappeared,  is  much  the  same  as  in  Edward  IV. 's  time.  The  chair  on  the 
Queen's  right  is  marked  "  Rex  Scocix,"  that  on  her  left  "  Princeps  Wallix.'" 
The  17  bishops  sit  on  the  right  side  of  the  House  (viewed  from  the  throne), 
29  lay  peers  on  the  left  ;  the  judges  are  in  the  middle  ;  immediately  before 
the  throne  stand  the  Treasurer  and  the  Marshal  ;  in  the  rear  are  some  of  the 
peers'  eldest  sons  ;  and  at  the  bar  stands  a  deputation  of  the  Commons, 
presenting  their  newly-chosen  Speaker  to  the  Queen. 

Unite  of  James  I ' 9S4 

James  I.  issued  coins  similar  to  those  already  in  use  in  England  ;  but  he  also 
issued  in  1604,  beside  the  sovereign,  a  gold  coin  of  the  same  value,  called  the 
unite,  which  commemorated  the  union  of  England  and  Scotland  by  the  legend 
"  King  of  Great  Britain  "  (instead  of  "England  and  Scotland  "),  "  France  and 
Ireland  "  on  the  obverse,  and  "  I  will  make  them  one  people  "  on  the  reverse. 
Its  value  was  afterwards  raised  to  22s.  The  specimen  here  figured  (from  the 
British  Museum)  dates  from  1612-1619. 

Henry,  Prince  of  Wales 9S5 

From  a  miniature  by  Isaac  Oliver,  at  Windsor  Castle.  Henry,  eldest  son  of 
James  L,  was  born  in  1594  and  died  in  1612. 

The  Gunpowder  Plotters 987 

From  the  title-page  of  a  German  tract,  "  Warhafftige  und  eigentliche  Be- 
schreibung  der  Verratherei,"  Sec,  published  at  Frankfort  in  1606,  by  the  brothers 
De  Br}-,  who  were  in  London  at  the  time  of  the  Plot. 


lviii  NOTES    ON   THE   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


Front  of  House  of  Sir  Paul  Pindar .    . .    .    .   .    .   .   .      98S 

Formerly  in  Bishopsgate  Without,  London  ;  built  in  1600  by  Sir  Paul  Pindar, 
a  great  Levant  merchant,  who  was  sent  by  James  I.  as  ambassador  to  Turkey 
from  161 1- 1620.  The  house  was  demolished  in  1890,  when  its  front  was 
removed  to  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  where  it  is  now  preserved.  Its 
lower  part  had  been  altered  so  that  restoration  was  impossible  ;  the  windows 
have  been  filled  with  modern  glass,  of  a  17th  century  pattern  ;  in  the  engraving 
this  has  been  replaced  by  the  simpler  glazing  which  is  shown  in  an  old  drawing 
of  the  house. 

Arms  of  the  Levant  Company  {Hazlitt,  "Livery  Companies  of  London")  .      989 
The  Company  of  Levant  or  Turkey  merchants  was  incorporated  by  Queen 
Elizabeth. 

Arms  of  the  African  Company  {Hazlitt,  "Livery  Companies") 989 

This  Company  was  first  incorporated  in  1588  ;  secondly,  in  1662,  under  the 
name  of  "  The  Company  of  Royal  Adventurers  of  England  and  Africa,"  and 
finally  in  1672,  as  "The  Royal  African  Company."  Its  success  was  small, 
owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  Dutch. 

Original  Arms  of  the  East  India  Company 990 

Mr.  F.  C.  Danvers  has  kindly  lent  this  illustration  from  his  paper  on  the 
"  India  Office  Records."  The  first  charter  granted  to  the  East  India  Company 
by  Elizabeth  in  1600  gave  them  the  exclusive  privilege  of  trading  to  the  Indies 
for  fifteen  years.  In  May  1601  they  ordered  their  treasurer  "to  paye  to  the 
Kynge  of  Heraldes  the  some  of  Twentie  merkes  for  assigninge  a  Armes  to  the 
Companie  by  vertue  of  his  Office."  In  July,  finding  their  voyage  round  the 
Cape  hindered  by  Dutch  and  Spanish  ships,  they  determined  to  seek  a  north- 
west passage  to  India  ;  some  interesting  records  of  this  scheme  are  preserved. 
At  first  they  traded  only  with  Java,  Sumatra,  and  the  neighbouring  isles  ;  in 
1608  they  sent  ships  to  Surat  and  Cambay,  and  thus  began  a  trade  with  India 
proper,  where  Surat  became  their  chief  seat.  The  earliest  extant  document 
from  abroad  relating  to  the  Company's  business  is  a  translation  of  the  Articles 
granted  by  the  King  of  Achin  to  the  subjects  of  the  Queen  of  England,  for  free 
entry  and  trade  in  his  dominions. 

Court  of  Wards  and  Liveries,  temp.  Elizabeth 991 

From  the  engraving  in  "  Vetusta  Monumenta  "  of  a  picture  in  the  collection 
of  the  Duke  of  Richmond.  The  date  appears  to  be  c.  1580-98.  At  the  head 
of  the  table  sits  the  Master  of  the  Court  (who  at  that  time  was  Lord  Burleigh), 
with  the  mace  on  the  table  beside  him  ;  right  and  left  of  him  sit  two  judges, 
probably  acting  as  his  assessors  ;  next  to  these  sit,  on  the  right  the  Surveyor, 
on  the  left  the  Attorney  of  the  Court  ;  next  to  the  Surveyor  is  the  Receiver- 
General,  reading  a  scroll,  and  beyond  him  the  Usher  with  his  rod  ;  opposite 
are  the  Auditor,  and  the  Messenger  wearing  his  badge  ;  facing  the  Master  stand 
three  clerks,  and  behind  them  two  Serjeants. 

Cresset,  Seventeenth  Century  ( Tower  of  London) 992 

Monument  of  Richard  Humble,  Alderman  of  London,  and  his  Family  993 
In  the  church  of  S.  Mary  Overie  (also  called  S.  Saviour),  Southwark.  Richard 
Humble  died  in  1616  ;  this  tomb,  erected  by  his  only  surviving  child,  is  one 
of  the  two  canopied  monuments  in  London,  and  has  therefore  been  drawn 
specially  for  this  book.  The  Alderman's  two  wives  kneel  behind  him  ;  below 
are  represented,  on  one  side  his  four  daughters,  on  the  other  his  two  sons. 

The  Bellman  of  London,  1616 994. 

From  the  title-page  of  a  tract  or  broadside,  "The  Bellman  of  London," 
1616,  in  the  Bagford  Collection  (British  Museum).  Some  forty  years  later 
Samuel  Pepys  writes  in  his  Diary  :— "  I  staid  up  till  the  bellman  came  by  with 
his  bell,  just  under  my  window,  as  I  was  writing  this  very  line,  and  cried, 
'  Past  one  of  the  clock,  and  a  cold,  frosty,  windy  morning.' " 

Old  Town  Hall,  Hereford 995 

From  a  facsimile,  published  by  the  Camden  Society,  of  a  MS.  "  History 
from  Marble,"  compiled  by  Thomas  Dingley  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  The 
Hereford  Town-hall  was  built  in  1618-20  by  Tohn  Abell,  who  was  considered 
the  master-builder  of  the  17th  century,  and  who  was  appointed  "one  of 
his  Majesty's  carpenters"  during  the  defence  of  Hereford  at  the  siege  of  1643. 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS  lix 


PAGE 

The  building  is  now  destroyed.  Dingley  gives  a  curious  account  of  it  : — 
"This  is  a  fair  Timber  Structure  supported  by  Columns  of  wood.  Here  sit 
the  Judges  of  Assize  over  the  Piazza  or  Walk.  In  the  uppermost  part  of  this 
building  are  Chambers  for  the  several  Corporacons  of  this  city  with  their 
Arms,  and  these  proper  verses  of  Scripture  and  devices  over  their  Doors. 

"The  Skinners  have  the  representation  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  these  words  : — 
Unto  Adam  also  and  to  his  wife  did  the  Lord  God  make  coats  of  skin,  and 
cloathed  them. — Gen.  ch.  3  ver.  21. 

"  The  Tanners  this  : — Send  therefore  to  Joppa  and  call  hither  Simon  whose 
surname  is  Peter ;  he  is  lodged  in  the  house  of  one  Symon  a  Tanner,  by,  <X:c. 
— Acts  10  v.  32. 

"Butchers,  the  motto: — Omnia  subjecisti  sub  pedibus,  oves  &  boves." — 
Psal.  8  v.  6  and  7. 

"Glovers: — They  wandred  about  in  sheepskins  and  goatskins,  being 
destitute,  &c. — Heb.  ch.  11  v.  37. 

"  Bakers  : — Give  us  day  by  day  our  daily  bread. — Luke  II  v.  3d. 
"  Cloathiers  or  Cloath  Workers  .   .   .   have  this  motto  : — My  trust  is  in  God 
alone,  besides  about  their  chamber  these  verses  (I  suppose  sett  up  by  one  John 
Lewis,  once  master  of  the  Company  here),  in  old  English  Character,  such  as 
it  is  : — 

"  Cloathing  doth  other  trades  exceed  as  fan- 
As  splendid  Sol  outshines  the  dullest  starr. 

By  it  the  poor  doe  gain  their  lively  hood 

Who  otherwise  might  starve  for  want  of  Food. 

Farmers  by  it  make  money  and  do  pay 

Their  Landlords  duly  on  the  very  day. 

The  Clothiers  they  grow  rich,  shopkeepers  thrive, 

The  Winter's  worsted  and  man  kept  alive. 

Advance  but  Clothing  and  we  need  not  sayle 

To  Colchus  against  dragons  to  prevayle 

Or  yoke  wild  Bulls  to  gain  the  Golden  Fleece, 

As  Jason  did  who  stray'd  so  far  from  Greece. 

Promote  the  Staple  Trade  with  Skill  and  Art 

The  Fleece  of  Gold  will  satisfye  your  heart, 

Concenter  that  the  Weever  may  go  on, 

John  Lewis  swears  by  Jove  it  shall  be  done." 

Two  Judges,  temp.  Elizabeth  [MS.  Add.  28330) to  face  p.  996 

Sir  Edward  Coke  {Engraved  Portrait  by  David  Loggan) 997 

"Kniperdoling" 998 

From  a  sketch  by  Inigo  Jones,  by  whom  the  costumes,  scenery,  and  stage 
contrivances  for  the  Court  masques  under  James  I.  and  Charles  I.  were  nearly 
all  designed  ;  the  examples  of  his  sketches  here  given  are  from  the  Shake- 
speare Society's  facsimiles  of  originals  in  the  collection  of  the  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire. Kniperdoling,  or  Knipperdolling,  was  a  cobbler  and  a  prophet  of  great 
repute  among  the  Anabaptists  in  the  time  of  John  of  Leyden  (early  16th 
century).  The  figure  to  which  his  name  has  been  given  by  I.  Jones  was 
evidently  designed  for  some  Court  masque,  and  intended  as  a  satire  upon  the 
sectaries.  It  thus  illustrates  the  contemptuous  attitude  of  the  Court  towards 
the  people. 

Group  from  the  Masque  of  "  The  Fortunate  Isles  " 999 

By  Inigo  Jones.     This  masque  was  performed  at  Court  on  Twelfth  Night, 
1626.     The  characters  here  represented  are  an    "  Airy    Spirit,"    "  Scogan," 
"  Skelton  "  (said  to  have  been  poets  of  the  15th  century),  and  "  A  Brother  of 
the  Rosy  Cross." 

"Cade" 1000 

Sketched  by  Inigo  Jones,  probably  lor  the  part  of  Jack  Cade  in  Shake- 
speare's "Henry  VI.,"  Part  2.  In  this  figure,  as  in  that  of  Knipperdolling, 
Jones  was  evidently  making  a  mock,  for  the  entertainment  of  the  court,  at  a 
popular  leader.  Cade's  attitude  is  that  of  drunken  bravado  ;  his  tattered 
trousers  contrast  absurdly  with  his  plumed  head-piece,  which  is  a  "  sallet "  or 


1X  NOTES   ON   THE   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


"salad  "  a  peculiarly  shaped  helmet  worn  in  Cade's  time,  but  already  un- 
common in  that  of  Shakespere  (who  has  a  punning  allusion  to  the  double 
meaning  of  its  name;  "Henry  VI.,  Part  2,  Act  iv.  Sc.  x.),  and  all  but 
obsolete  in  that  of  Jones. 

Robert  Carr  and  Frances  Howard,  Earl  and  Countess  of  Somerset 

{contemporary  print  in  British  Museum) I°01 

Robert  Cecil,  Earl  of  Salisbury  {engraving  by  Elstrak) 1003 

German  Crossbow    \q    l6oo  {To:ver  of  London) 1004 

Arbalest  j  . 

The  later  crossbows  were  mostly  made  in  Germany  ;  some  of  them  were 

highly  ornamented.     The  second  of  those  here  figured  is  inlaid  with  ivory. 

Crossbows  are  said  to  have  been  used  in  actual  warfare  for  the  last  time  by 

some  of  the  English  troops  in  the  expedition  to  La  Rochelle,  in  1627  ;  see 

below,  p.  1033. 

A  Cannon,   1608 .•••••••    IO°5 

From  MS.  Cotton  Julius  F.  iv.  (British  Museum),  a  treatise  on  artillery, 

written  1608. 

PlKEMAN,  TEMP.  JAMES   I I0°6 

Musketeer,  temp.  James  I .    •    .    1007 

These  two  figures  are  from  a  broadside  in  the  collection  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries. 

A  Knight  of  the  Garter  and  his  Usher,  1623-5    .    . 1008 

From  MS.  Egerton  1264  (British  Museum),  the  Album  of  a  traveller  from 
Nuremberg,  George  Holtzschuher. 
Tile  with  arms  and   crest    of   the    Bacon    family    {South    Kensington 

Museum) 1009 

The  initials  N.  B.    on  this   tile  represent   Sir  Nicholas  Bacon,    father  of 
Francis. 
Charles    I.   as   Prince   of  Wales  {miniature  by  Peter   Oliver,  at    Windsor 

Castle) 1012 

Rocking-horse  of  Charles  1 1013 

From  the    Old    Palace,    Theobald's    Grove  ;    now  in   the    Great    House, 

Cheshunt. 
The  Lord   Mayor    of    London,   his   sword-bearer,    and   purse-bearer, 

1623-5  (AT.?.  Eg.  1264)      1014 

The  Lady  Mayoress  and  her  attendants,   1623-5  {MS.  Eg.  1264)    .    .    .    1015 

Entry  of  Prince  Charles  into  Madrid,  1623  {contemporary  German  print)  .     1016 

Prince  Charles's  Welcome  Home  from  Spain  {broadside,  in   collection  of 

Society  of  Antiquaries) • 1018 

The  English  Council  of  War,  1623-4  {broadside,  in  same  collection)  .    .    .     1020 
Catchpoll  f  SEVENTEENTH  century  (Tower  of  London) 102 1 

Charles  I.  opening  Parliament  {contemporary  print  in  British  Museum)  .     1022 
An  adaptation  of  the  older  engraving  reproduced  in  p  982.     The  alteration 
in  costume  is  noticeable. 

St.  Germans  Church  and  Port  Eliot 1025 

Sir  John  Eliot  {picture  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  St.  Germans,  at  Port 

Eliot) I026 

GeorgeVilliers,  Duke  of  Buckingham  {from  W.  J.  Delff's  engraving  of 

a  picture  by  Miercveldt) 1028 

Chief  Justice  Crew,  {after  IV.  Hollar) 103 1 

Monument  of  Sir  Charles  Montague,  1625  {Gardiner,  "  Students'  History 

England")   ....        io^2 

In  Barking  Church,  Essex.     A  similar  illustration  of  the  tents  and  military  , 
accoutrements  of  the  time   occurs  on  a  monument  in    S.    Helen's    Church, 
Bishopsgate,  to  the  memory  of  Martin  Bond,  captain  of  the  Trained  Bands  of 
London,  who  died  in  1643. 


NOTES    OX    THE    ILLUSTRATION-  lxi 


PAGE 

Ships  of  Buckingham's  Fleet  ["A  manifestation  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham," 

1627) 1033 

Facsimile  of  a  page  from  the  Account-Book  of  the  Coopers'  Company 

of  London,  1576   Hazlitt,   "Livery  Companies") 1034 

An  illustration  of  the  elaborate  care  and  artistic  skill  which  the  great 
manufacturing  and  trading  companies  bestowed  upon  their  documents  and 
records.  The  influence  of  these  companies  (among  whom  the  Coopers  were 
one  of  the  most  important)  on  both  local  and  central  government  was  at  this 
time  very  great.  The  Coopers*  Company  dates  from  the  fourteenth  century  ; 
its  extant  records  and  accounts  begin  in  1439. 

The  House  of  Commons,  temp.  Charles  1 1036 

From  "  Discours  du  bon  et  loial  subject  de  la  Grande  Bretagne  a  la  Royne 
de  ce  Pays,''  Paris,  1648. 

A  Supper-party,  early  Seventeenth  Century   Roxbnrghe  Ballad)   ....    103S 

"  Triple  Episcopacie  "  {Tract,  1641) 1040 

The  minister  called  "  of  God  "  is  evidently  a  Puritan  ;  the  other  two  figures 
are  caricatures  of  Laud,  and  the  whole  illustrates  the  popular  feeling  about 
him  and  his  proceedings. 

Haymakers,  early  Seventeenth  Century    Roxburgh*  Ballad) 1042 

Map  of  the  American  Colonies  in  1640 1044 

Sir    Humphry   Gilbert   {engraving  by  C,   van  de  Fas  in  Holland's   "  Heroo- 

logia  '■') 1045 

A  Family  Group,  early  Seventeenth  Century  {Roxbnrghe  Ballad)  ....    1046 

John  Smith,  Governor  of  Virginia 1047 

From  the  map  of  New  England  in  his  "Generall  Historie  of  Virginia,'' 
London,  1624. 

George  Calvert,  first  Lord  Baltimore 104S 

From  a  picture  in  the  Earl  of  Verulam's  collection  at  Gorhambury.   The  :" 
Lord  Baltimore  planned  the  settlement  of  Maryland,  which  was  carried  into 
effect  by  his  son. 

Medal  of  Lord  and  Lady  Baltimore,   1632   British  Museum .     1049 

A  very  rare  silver  medal,  with  portraits  of  Cecil  Calvert,  2nd  Lord  Balti- 
more, and  Anne  Arundell,  his  wife,  in  the  year  in  which  Charles  I.  granted 
him  the  province  of  Maryland. 

Grave  of  Thomas  Clark,  mate  of  the  "Mayflower,"  d.   1627  {Har: 

Magazine) 1050 

On  Burial  Hill,  Xew  Plymouth,  Massachusetts. 

Allyn  House,  Xew  Plymouth 105 1 

Built  by  one  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  ;  demolished  1826  ;  here  reproduced 
from  W.  Tudor's  "Life  of  James  Otis,"  Boston  (Mass.),  1S23. 

An  English  Citizen  riding  with  his  Wife io;2 

From  MS.  Egerton,  1269  (British  Museum),  the  Album  of  Tobias 
Oelhafen,  a  citizen  of  Xuremburg  who  visited  England  in  1623-5. 

Rural  Scene,  Mid-Seventeenth  Century  {Roxbnrghe  Ballad) 1053 

William  Laud,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury    picture  by  Vandyck) 1054 

Brass  of  Samuel  Harsnett,  Archbishop  of  Vork 1056 

On  his  tomb  inChigwell  Church,  Essex  ;  here  reproduced  from  the  frontis- 
piece to  Mr.  Gordon  Goodwin's  Catalogue  of  the  Harsnett  Library-,  Colch 
ter.  Harsnett  died  in  163 1.  The  brass  is  an  interesting  illustration  of  the 
revived  use  of  the  old  ecclesiastical  vestments  at  this  period  ;  it  represents  the 
archbishop  in  full  pontificals,  with  stole,  alb,  dalmatic,  cope,  mitre  and 
pastoral  staff,  and  is  the  latest  known  example  of  an  English  prelate  thus 
arrayed. 

A  Schoolmaster,   early  Seventeenth  Century  .    .  • 1057 

From  the  frontispiece  to  a  Latin  comedy,  "  Pedantius,''  written  in  the  latter 
years  of  Elizabeth  for  performance  at  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  but  not 
printed  till   1631.     Its  author,  whom  the  figure  of  "  Pedantius  "  is  thought  to 


lxii 


NOTES   ON   THE   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


r>-   Thorns  Beard   master  of  the  Hospital  at  Huntingdon,  and 
represent   was  ^;  Jr^X0l   where^  Oliver  Cromwell  was  one  of  his  pupils. 

°epu«e  among Ihe  Puritans.      After  his  death  the  lecture  was  suppressed  by 

Laud. 
MINSTRELS   OUTS.DE   A   TAVERN,    EARLY    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY    («***»I* 

Ballad) 

THE  COMPLAINTS  OF    «  NlCK  FROTH  »  AND  «  R-ULEROST  »   AGAINST  THE  PURI- 

T^S£TfiS?pS  o^^act,  «  The  lamentable  complaints  of  Nick  Froth 
the  npster  and  Rulerost  the  cooke,  concerning  the  restraint  lately  set  forth 
a/ainsUrink^g,  potting,  and  piping  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  against  selling 
nKte  "  641.  Ir t  that  year  the  Puritan  House  of  Commons  issued,  as  a 
counterblast  to  the  Book  of  Sports,  a  prohibition  of  all  feasting,  merrymaking, 
and  opening  of  taverns  on  Sunday. 
William  Juxon,  Bishop  of  London  and  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 

(from  an  engraving  by  H.  D.  Thielcke) I0t)I 

"Coach  and  Sedan"  {Tract,  1636) Io62 

Lambeth  Palace  Chapel,  looking  west  . .     •     .     •     •     Io63 

The  ceiling  is  Laud's  work;  the  stalls  and  the  screen  were  probably  erected 
by  his  friend  and  successor,  Juxon,  at  the  Restoration,  after  the  chapel  had 
been  again  ruined  under  the  Commonwealth. 

Charles  I.  (Q.  P.  Miscell.  Books  III,  Public  Record  Office) 1066 

Scottish   Soldiers   in  the  Service  of  Gustavus  Adolphus     {German 

Broadside,  163 1,  in  British  Museum) .     .     .     •     •    :      io68 

Called  "Irish,"  but   really  Scotch   Highlanders,  probably  of    Mackay  s 
regiment. 
»  Gustavus  Adolphus  {from  an  engraving  by  Delff}  after  a  picture  by  Miereveldt)     1069 

Alderman  Abel,  Patentee  and  Monopolist,  1641,  and  his  wife  .  .  .  1072 
From  a  broadside,  dated  1641,  "An  exact  legendary  compendiously  con- 
taining  the  whole  life  of  Alderman  Abel,  the  maine  Proiector  and  Patentee  for 
the  raising  of  wines."  Beginning  life  as  apprentice  to  a  vintner,  Abel  rose  to 
great  wealth  and  importance  in  the  city.  The  site  of  his  house,  the  "  Ship  " 
in  Old  Fish  Street,  had  once  belonged  to  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  it  was  popu- 
larly said  that  in  excavating  its  cellars  he  had  found  some  of  the  Cardinal's 
hidden  treasure.  In  1637  he  and  his  cousin  Richard  Kilvert  were  joined  in 
a  patent  whereby  the  London  Vintners  obtained  a  monopoly  of  the  sale  of 
wines  by  retail.  A  Parliamentary  proclamation  put  an  end  to  this  monopoly, 
and  led  to  the  downfall  of  its  projectors,  in  1641. 

London  from  the  River,  early  Seventeenth  Century  {from  an  engraving 

by  Cornelius  Jan   Visscher) 1 073 

Flying  from  the  Plague,  1630 1074 

From  a  broadside,  "  Looking-glass  for  town  and  country,"  in  the  collection 
of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.  The  town  complains  that  people  are  deserting 
it  through  fear  of  the  plague. 

An  English  Kitchenmaid,  1644  (Hollar,  "  Ornatus  Muliebris  Anglicanus")  .     1075 

Burford  Priory,  Oxfordshire 1076 

The  seat  of  the  Lenthall  family.  The  house  was  chiefly,  and  the  chapel 
(the  small  building  on  the  left)  entirely,  built  by  William  Lenthall,  the  Speaker 
of  the  Long  Parliament. 

A  Lady  of  the  English  Court  (Hollar,   "Ornatus  Muliebris  Anglicanus," 

1643) 1077 

An  English  Lady  in  Winter  Dress  (Hollar,  "Aula    Veneris,'"  1644)  .    .    .     1078 

Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Strafford  (engraved  by  0.  Lacour,  after  a 
picture  by  Vandyck  in  the  possession  of  Sir  Philip  Grey-Egerton,  Bart.,  of 
Oulton  Park,  Cheshire) 1080 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS  lxiii 


PAGE 

Room  in  Malahide  Castle  {after  IV.  H.  Bartlctt) 1082 

The  site  of  Malahide,  four  miles  from  Dublin,  was  granted  by  Henry  II.  to 
an  ancestor  of  the  Talbot  family.  The  room  here  figured  seems  to  have  been 
decorated  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  is  panelled  with 
dark  Irish  oak,  richly  carved  with  small  figures,  mostly  of  Scriptural  subjects. 

James  Usher,  Archbishop  of  Armagh  {from  Vertu/s  engraving-  of  a  picture 

by  Sir  P.  Lely) 1083 

Stone  Candlestick,  dated  1634  {Antiquarian  Museum,  Edinburgh) 1085 

In  the  form  of  a  Roman  altar;  one  of  a  pair,  seemingly  of  Scotch  manufac- 
ture. 

Map  of  Modern  Scotland 1086 

A  Scotswoman,  temp.  Charles  I.  {Hollar,  "Ornatus  Muliebris  Anglicanus," 

1649) 1087 

Traquair  Castle,   Peebles-shire 1090 

The  best  example  now  remaining  of  Scottish  domestic  architecture,  unaltered 
since  the  seventeenth  century.  It  was  probably  built,  or  at  least  completed, 
by  the  Earl  of  Traquair,  who  was  Lord  High  Treasurer  of  Scotland  in  1635. 

Christ's  College,  Cambridge,  in  the  Seventeenth  Century 1092 

From  Loggan's  "  Cantabrigia  Illustrata,"  1688.  Save  for  the  block  of 
buildings  at  rear,  added  in  1642,  the  college  could  then  have  been  scarcely 
altered  since  Milton's  time  ;  it  has  been  greatly  altered  since  Loggan's.  The 
tree  in  the  middle  of  the  Fellows'  garden  (behind  the  new  building)  is  a  mulberry 
which  Milton  is  said  to  have  planted,  and  which  remains  to  this  day. 

John  Milton,  aged  21   {from  Vertius  engraving,  1731,  of  a  picture  then  in  the 

possession  of  Speaker  Onslow) 1093 

Figures   Designed    by   Inigo  Jones    for   a   Masque   {Shakcspere  Society's 

facsimile)      1095 

Ludlow  Castle  in  the  Seventeenth  Century 1096 

From  a  drawing  by  Thomas  Dineley  in  his  "Account  of  the  Official  Progress 
of  Henry  first  Duke  of  Beaufort  through  Wales,  1684,"  a  MS.  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Duke  of  Beaufort.  The  drawing  is  here  reproduced  by  permission 
from  the  facsimile  published  by  Messrs.   Blades,  East,  and  Blades. 

John  Prynne  {after  W.  Hollar) j0gy 

The  "  Sovereign  of  the  Seas"  {contemporary  print  by  John  Payne)    ....     1098 
This  ship  was  built  for  the  Royal  Navy  in  1 63 7. 

John  Hampden  {portrait  in  collection  of  the  Earl  of  St.  Germans,  at  Port  Eliot)  1100 

John  Bastwick  1  ,   /..      ljr   rr  ,,    , 

J  y  {after  IV.  Hollar) Tr02 

Henry  Burton  f  KJ  '        Il°2 

Facsimile  of  Part  of  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,   1638  {Anti- 
quarian Museum,  Edinburgh) 1104 

Alexander  Leslie,  Earl  of  Leven  {picture  by  Vandyck) 1107 

Parliament  House,  Edinburgh      iio8 

From  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Scottish  Parliament,  the 
Courts  of  Justice,  and  the  Town  Council  of  Edinburgh,  had  all  held  then- 
sittings  in  a  building  almost  on  the  same  site  as  the  hall  here  represented, 
which  was  built  in  1632-39  by  subscriptions  raised  in  Edinburgh  by  order  of 
the  Town  Council,  owing  to  a  threat  that  Parliament  and  the  Courts  should 
be  removed  from  the  city  unless  better  accommodation  were  provided  for  them. 
After  the  extinction  of  the  Scottish  Parliament  in  1707,  the  hall  was  divided 
by  partitions  into  booths  occupied  by  small  traders  ;  it  has  since  been  used  as 
a  vestibule  to  the  Court  Rooms  which  form  the  several  judicial  chambers  of 
the  Court  of  Session. 

John  Pym  {miniature  by  Samuel  Cooper  in  the  collection  of  Mrs.   Russell-Astley, 

at  Chequers  Court) 1112 

Charles  I.  in  the  House  of  Lords  ("  Discours  du  bon  et  loial  subject,"  1648)  .     1 1 14 
The  Chancellor  stands  behind  the  King  on  the  right,   the  treasurer  on  the 
left  ;  the  Grand  Chamberlain  holds  the  crown,  the  Constable  the  sword  ;  in 
the  foreground  are  a  herald  and  an  usher  ;  some  of  the  peers  are  grouped 
around. 


Ixiv  NOTES    ON    THE   ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

THE  PARLIAMENT  HOUSE  AND  WESTMINSTER   HALL,    TEMP.    CHARLES   I.  {after 

j  j*     jr  j j      \  1 1 IO 

One"  of  the  'very'  few'  existing  'view's  of  the  old  House  of  Parliament.  The 
building  was  originally  a  chapel,  founded  by  King  Stephen  in  honour  of  his 
patron  saint,  and  refounded  by  Edward  III.  as  a  collegiate  church  attached  to 
the  roval  palace  of  Westminster.  After  the  suppression  of  the  college  under 
Edward  VI.,  the  chapel  became  the  meeting  place  of  the  House  of  Commons, 
whose  sessions  had  hitherto  been  held  in  the  chapter-house  of  the  Abbey. 
The^Commons  continued  to  meet  in  St.  Stephen  s  chapel  till  1834,  when  it 
was  burnt  down  ;  only  the  crypt  now  remains. 

Lambeth  Palace  {after  W.  Hollar,  1647) IIlS 

Trial  of  Strafford  {after  IV.  Hollar). "2° 

Execution  of  Strafford  {after  IV.  Hollar) 1122 

James  Grahame,  Earl  (afterwards  Marquis)  of  Montrose  {from  an  en- 
gravingby  Faed  of  a picture  by  Honthorsi) 1125 

Lucius  Cary,  Viscount  Falkland  {Picture  by  Franz  Hals,  in  the  collection 

of  Lord  Arundell  of  Wardotir) 1 127 

Sir  Edmund  Verney II28 

Ever  since  Charles  was  thirteen,  Sir  Edmund  Verney  (who  was  ten  years 
older)  had  been  in  his  household  ;  since  Charles's  accession  to  the  Crown,  he 
had  been  Knight  Marshal  of  the  Palace  ;  he  was  appointed  Standard-bearer 
to  the  King  in  August,  1642,  vowed  that  "By  the  grace  of  God,  they  that 
would  wrest  that  standard  from  his  hand  must  first  wrest  his  soul  from  his 
body,"  and  kept  his  vow  ;  the  standard  was  taken  at  Edgehill  out  of  the  rigid 
•clasp  of  a  dead  man's  hand.  The  picture  here  reproduced  is  among  the 
Verney  family  portraits  at  Claydon  House  ;  it  was  painted  by  Vandyck  for 
Charles  I.  as  a  present  to  Sir  Edmund.  He  is  represented  with  his  Marshal's 
staff;  the  head-piece  on  the  table  beside  him  is  a  "  Pott  for  the  Hedd  "  which 
he  ordered  to  be  made  and  sent  after  him  when  on  the  march  to  Scotland  with 
Charles  in  1639,  but  it  was  so  difficult  to  get  one  made  big  enough  that  he 
never  received  it  till  the  expedition  was  at  an  end,  whereupon  he  wrote  to  his 
son  "  I  will  now  keepe  it  to  boyle  my  porrage  in." 

"The  Carelesse  Non-resident" .    .    1130 

From  the  title-page  of  a  tract,  "A  Remonstrance  against  the  Non-residents 
of  Great  Britain,"  1642.  Shows  how  long  the  popular  feeling  against  pluralists 
had  existed  before  the  system  was  abolished  in  1838.  The  figure  gives  the  dress 
of  an  English  clergyman  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Proctor  and  Parator 1131 

From  the  title-page  of  a  tract,  "The  Proctor  and  Parator,  their  Mourning,  or 
the  Lamentation  of  Doctors'  Commons  at  their  downfall  ;  being  a  true 
Dialogue  relating  the  fearfull  abuses  and  exorbitances  of  those  spirituall  courts." 
1641. 

William  Lenthall,  Speaker  of  the  Long  Parliament to  face  p.   11 32 

From  a  water-colour  copy  (in  the  Sutherland  collection,  Bodleian  Library), 
by  Thomas  Athow,  of  a  picture  formerly  at  Burford  Priory,  the  home  of  the 
Lenthalls. 

Facsimile  of  part  of  Sir  Ralph  Verney's  Notes  of  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment           1 134 

Reproduced,  by  permission,  from  Lady  Verney's  "Memoirs  of  the  Verney 
Family."  Sir  Ralph  (son  of  Sir  Edmund  represented  in  p.  11 28  ;  see  above) 
was  present  as  member  for  Aylesbury,  in  the  House  of  Commons  when 
Charles  went  to  seize  the  five  members.  The  account  of  the  scene  given  in  the 
text  is  derived  from  the  notes  here  reproduced. 

An  English  Archer  {Gervase  Markham,  "Art  ofArcherie"  1634) 1135 

Seemingly  meant  to  represent  the  King  himself. 

William  Cavendish,  Earl  (afterwards  Duke)  of  Newcastle  {from  HoWs 

engraving  of  a  picture  by  Vandyck  in  the  collection  of  Earl  Spencer)  .    ...     1137 

Militiamkn,  temp.  Charles  I.  {contemporary  tract) 1138 


NOTES    OX    THE    ILLUSTRATION-  lxv 


PAGE 

Medal  of  Sir  John  Hotham 1139 

A  unique  medal  'silver)  in  the  British  Museum  ;  by  Thomas  Simon,  a  med- 
allist who  worked  for  the  Parliamentary  party.  Sir  J.  Hotham  was  accused 
of  treason  to  the  Parliament  in  1644,  and  beheaded  January  2,  1645.  This 
medal  was  a  memorial  executed  for  his  family  and  friends,  according  to  a 
custom  very  general  at  this  time. 

Reverse  of  Second  Great  Seal  of  Charles  1 1140 

This  seal,  used  in  1627 — 1640,  is  the  finest  of  the  three  seals  of  Charles  I. 
Its  obverse  shows  the  King  on  his  throne  ;  the  spirited  figure  on  the  reverse 
represents  him  as  the  type  of  a  dashing  Cavalier  soldier,  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  Puritan  warrior  portrayed  on  the  seal  of  Oliver  Cromwell  (p.  1247  . 
Compare  the  whole  conception  of  this  seal  with  that  of  the  Commonwealth 
(pp.  1220 — 1 221). 

Robert  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  General  of  the  Parliamentary 

Forces  {after  I 'V.  Hollar) II42 

Prince  Rupert  {from  a  mezzotint  by  himself ') 1143 

Pillar  and  Staircase  leading  to  Hall,  Christ  Church,  Oxford  ...     1144 
From  a  photograph.     A  fine  example  of  English  architecture  c.  1640. 

£l  Gold  Piece  of  Charles  I.,  1643  (British  Museum) 1145 

During  the  year  1642-4  Charles  issued  some  gold  pieces,  worth  60*.  each. 
They  seem  to  have  been  all  coined  at  Oxford.  The  types  vary  ;  this  one,  the 
finest,  is  very  rare.  The  legend,  an  abbreviation  of  "  Religio  Protestans, 
Leges  Anglioe,  Libertas  Parliamenti,"  refers  to  the  King's  Declaration  at 
Wellington,  September  19,  1642,  that  he  would  preserve  "the  Protestant 
religion,  the  known  laws  of  the  land,  and  the  just  privileges  of  Parliament." 

Sir  Bevil  Greenvil  {picture  belonging  to  Mr.  Bernard  Grenville) 1147 

An  English  Tradesman's  Wife  and  Citizen's  Daughter  'Hollar,  "  Aula 

Veneris,"  1649) 114S 

Highland  Dirk,  Seventeenth  Century  {Antiquarian  Museum,  Edinburgh) .  1149 

Mould  for  Communion-tokens 1150 

Stamp  for  Communion-tokens 1151 

The  use  of  "  tokens  "  to  be  distributed  by  the  minister  or  elders  to  intending 
communicants  a  day  or  two  before  the  Communion  Service,  and  by  them  re- 
turned when  they  came  to  the  service,  was  first  adopted  by  the  French  Calvin- 
ists  in  1560.  From  them  the  practice  soon  spread  among  the  Scottish 
Presbyterians.  The  French  tokens  were  of  lead  ;  in  Scotland  written  tickets 
seem  to  have  been  used  at  first,  but  early  in  the  seventeenth  century  metallic 
tokens  became  common,  and  have  remained  in  use  till  the  present  time,  when 
cards  are  again  superseding  them.  They  were  generally  made  of  lead  ; 
sometimes  of  brass  or  tin.  The  earliest  of  them  were  square,  about  half  an  inch 
to  one  inch  in  diameter,  and  marked  simply  with  the  initial  of  the  parish  ;  in 
the  seventeenth  century  they  grew  larger,  to  make  room  for  the  introduction 
of  a  date  and  a  more  elaborate  monogram  ;  then  there  grew  up  a  custom  of 
making  new  tokens,  or  recasting  old  ones,  when  a  new  minister  came  to  a 
parish,  and  early  in  the  eighteenth  century  it  became  usual  to  mark  them 
with  the  minister's  initials.  The  tokens  were  generally  made  under  the  per- 
sonal superintendence  of  certain  members  of  the  kirk-session  appointed  for 
the  purpose.  Each  kirk-session  had  its  own  mould,  or  stamp,  for  making 
them.  The  examples  here  given  are  reproduced,  by  permission,  from  the  Rev. 
T.  Burns's  "Old  Scottish  Communion  Plate."  The  first  illustration  shows  the 
token-mould  of  Crail  parish,  open,  and  with  a  token  in  it.  The  second  repre- 
sents the  token-starnp  of  Swinton  parish,  in  its  box,  and  with  a  token  beside  it. 
Both  date  from  the  seventeenth  century. 

The  Solemn  League  and  Covenant,  1643 lIS2 

A  reduced  facsimile  of  an  engraving  by  W.  Hollar,  containing  the  text  of 
the  Covenant  with  allegorical  illustrations.  In  the  first  compartment,  on  each 
side  of  the  title,  is  a  group  of  men  swearing  to  the  Covenant  with  uplifted 
hands,  beneath  the  text  Jer.  1.  5  ;  the  first  article  is  illustrated  by  a  preacher, 
with  the  text  Deut.  xxvi.  17,  18  ;  the  second,  by  a  church  door  whence  issues 
a  procession  of  "  coristers,  singing-men,  deanes  and  bishops,"  over  whose 


lxvi  NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


heads  is  written  Matt.  xv.  13  ;  the  third  stands  between  the  Houses  of  Lords 
and  Commons,  with  the  text  Is.  iv.  5  ;  the  fourth  between  "  A  Malignant  "  and 
"A  Preist,"  who  are  both  being  led  to  punishment  ;  over  their  heads  is  a  text 
from  Ez.  xx.  38.  The  fifth  article  is  illustrated  by  three  men,  representing 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  holding  three  strands  of  one  rope,  with  the 
text  from  Eccles.  iv.  12;  the  sixth,  by  a  man,  from  whose  mouih  issue  the 
words  "  Breake  the  Covenant,"  having  his  hands  and  feet  bound  by  another 
who  answers  "  0  no,  no,"  while  over  them  is  an  inscription  from  Dan.  xi.  28  : 
at  the  foot  of  the  last  article  is  a  church,  to  which  a  man  points,  with  words 
from  Micah  iv.  2  ;  another  man  addresses  a  third,  "Come,  let's  go  to  the 
tavern,"  and  a  fourth  man  meets,  with  the  words  "I  am  not  hee,"  a  woman 
who  says  "I  am  shee." 

Medal  of  Earlof  Manchester  (i?;-///;//.  JZ/www)    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    .    1153 

A  silver  medal,  very  rare  ;  issued  as  a  military  reward  to  his  soldiers,  and  in- 
teresting for  the  view  of  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament  on  the  reverse. 

Order  of  Parliament  concerning  Arms ;    •    •    IJ54 

Reproduced,  by  kind  permission  of  Miss  Toulmin  Smith,  from  a  copy  in  her 
possession.  This  order,  issued  March  23,  1644  (1643,  old  style)»  is  interesting 
on  account  of  the  "mark"  or  monogram,  L.  C.  E.,  representing  the  Lords 
and  Commons  of  England,  beneath  the  crown  whose  authority  they  had  taken 
to  themselves. 

The  Earl  of  Essex  («//.•;•  //:  ^//ar) 1155 

Oliver  Cromwell  (picture  by  Walker,  at  HincJiinbrook)    .    .    .   • 1 156 

Plan  of  the  Battle  of  Marston  Moor 11 58,   11 59 

Memorial  Medal  of  the  Earl  of  Essex,  1646  (British  Museum)     ....     1160 
Silver  ;  very  rare. 

"A  Lovely  Company" 1162,   1163,   1164,   1165,  1166 

Cromwell's  own  description  of  his  brigade  (see  p.  1 162)  is  well  illustrated  by 
these  figures,  carved  in  wood  on  the  staircase  at  Cromwell  House,  Highgate. 
Local  tradition  asserts  that  this  house — now  used  as  a  convalescent  home  in 
connexion  with  the  Hospital  for  Sick  Children  in  Great  Ormonde  Street — was 
originally  built  in  1630,  and  was  altered  and  re-decorated  by  Oliver 
Cromwell,  and  given  by  him  to  his  daughter  Bridget  and  her  first  husband, 
Ireton,  whom  she  married  in  1646.  It  is  certain  that  Ireton  lived  at  Highgate, 
where  he  was  one  of  the  acting  governors  of  the  Grammar  School  ;  the 
monogram  I.C.,  doubtless  representing  Ireton  and  Cromwell,  is  on  a  mantel- 
piece in  one  of  the  rooms  at  Cromwell  House  ;  on  the  ceiling  of  another  room 
(partly  burnt  in  1865,  but  restored)  is  a  coat  of  arms  which  seems  to  be  that 
of  the  Ireton  family  ;  and  on  a  boundary  stone  let  into  the  garden  wall  the 
initials  I.C.  appear  again,  with  a  small  O  between  them,  perhaps  standing  for 
Oliver.  The  whole  decoration  of  the  house  shows  that  it  was  designed  for  the 
abode  of  an  officer  of  the  New  Model.  Two  figures,  said  to  have  been 
Cromwell  and  Ireton,  were  destroyed  at  the  Restoration  ;  the  nine  which 
remain,  placed  as  if  on  guard  on  the  newels  of  the  staircase,  are  unmistak- 
ably carved  from  the  life  ;  the  originals  were  in  all  likelihood  picked  men  of 
the  New  Model  Army.     They  are  : 

1.  Fifer. 

2.  Drummer. 

3.  Targeteer  or  rondelier,  a  kind  of  infantry  thought  by  some  leaders  to  be 
valuable  against  pikemen. 

4.  Officer  of  infantry,  perhaps  pikemen  ;  a  beautiful  figure,  with  a  very 
ornamental  breastplate.  That  he  is  not  a  cavalry  officer  is  shown  by  his  iron 
skirts  or  tassets,  which  are  unsuited  for  riding,  and  also  by  his  having  no  spurs 
and  no  long  steel  gauntlet  on  his  left  hand. 

5.  Musketeer  ;  a  capital  figure,  the  musket-stock  very  well  carved.  From 
earlier  descriptions  of  these  carvings  before  they  were  so  much  mutilated  it  is 
known  that  this  man  originally  had  a  rest  as  well  as  a  musket. 

6.  Pikeman  ;  this  figure  formerly  had  a  pike.  As  his  sword  is  a  short  side- 
arm,  he  is  not  an  officer. 

7.  Cahver-man.  This  figure  had  a  caliver  (a  smaller  piece  than  a  musket) 
in  the  left  hand  ;  his  armour  and  dress  however  are  those  of  the  typical  pike- 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS  lxvii 


man,  and  as  he  has  no  bandolier  or  belt  with  little  boxes  of  powder-charges 
hanging  from  it,  he  seems  to  have  been  an  untidy  man  who  carried  his  powder 
loose  in  his  pocket. 

8.   Targeteer  ;  this  man  formerly  had  a  pike. 

9  and  10.  Musketeer  (two  views  of  the  same  figure).  This  man  had  a 
musket  and  a  rest  in  his  left  hand,  and  still  has  his  bandolier  on  his  shoulder. 
The  attitude  with  the  hat  off  occurred  in  drill. 

It  is  curious  that  among  these  figures  there  is  no  light  horseman,  though  the 
light  horseman  is  specially  associated  with  Cromwell.  This  deficiency  is 
supplied  by  a  figure  given  below,  p.  1222. 

The  Staircase,  Cromwell  House,   Highgate 1167 

This  staircase  has  very  fine  panels,  each  representing  a  different  military 
device,  while  at  the  top,  crowning  all,  is  a  panel  with  the  emblems  of  victor}-. 
a  laurel-wreath  and  crossed  olive-branches.  This  panel  is  given  in  the 
illustration,  with  one  of  the  lower  ones,  representing  a  drum,  halberts.  and 
spear. 

Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  [from  an  engraving  by  H.  Hondius) 1 169 

The   Treaty-House,   Uxbridge  {drawing  in   Sutherland  collection,  Bodleian 

Library) 1 1 70 

Bridge  and  Bridge-gates,  Chester,   1645 • 1171 

A  sketch  made  just  before  the  siege,  by  Randle  Holme,  the  third  of  four 
successive  bearers  of  that  name,  whose  hereditary  home  was  in  Bridge 
Street,  Chester.  The  first  Randle  Holme  was  Deputy  to  the  College  of  Arms 
for  Cheshire,  Shropshire,  and  Xorth  Wales,  and  was  an  adherent  of  the 
Parliament.  His  grandson,  who  was  eighteen  years  old  when  he  made  this 
sketch,  became  Deputy  Garter  for  Cheshire  and  North  Wales  under  Charles 
II.,  though  his  devotion  to  the  King  was  very  doubtful.  He  lived  till  1699. 
A  large  collection  of  antiquarian,  genealogical  and  topographical  MSS. 
relating  to  Cheshire  was  begun  by  his  grandfather,  continued  by  his  father, 
himself,  and  his  son  ;  it  now  forms  vols.  1920 — 2180  of  the  Harleian  MSS. 
(British  Museum).     The  sketch  here  reproduced  is  in  vol.  2073. 

Plan  of  the  Battle  of  Xaseby 11 72 

John    Paulet,   fifth   Marquis  of  Winchester   {from  an  engraving  by  R. 

Cooper  after  Peter  Oliver) 1  r  74 

,S mall  Brass  Cannon  {Tower  of  London) 117; 

One  of  a  set  given  by  the  Armourers'  Company  of  London  to  Charles  I.  for 
his  son  (afterwards  Charles  II.),  to  teach  the  boy  the  art  of  war. 

'"Two  upstart  Prophets  " 117- 

From  the  title-page  of  a  tract,  "  A  discourse  of  the  two  infamous  upstart 
prophets,  Richard  Farnham,  weaver  of  White-Chappell,  and  John  Bull, 
weaver  of  Saint  Butolphs  Aldgate,"  1636. 

John  Lilburne  />;-/«/,  1649,  in  British  Museum) 117S 

""These  Tradesmen  are  Preachers  in  and  about  the  City  of  London  '* 

[broadside,  1647,  in  British  Museum) 1 1 79 

Church  and  Conventicle,  1648 11S1 

Frontispiece  to  "A  Glasse  for  the  Times,  by  which  according  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, you  may  clearly  behold  the  true  Ministers  of  Christ,  how  farre  differing 
from  false  Teachers.   .   .   .     Collected  by  T.  C  ,  a  Friend  to  Truth,''  164S. 

Bristol  Castle  {Millard's  Map  of  Bristol,  1763) 11  S3 

The  cannon  on  the  walls  show  that  the  original  drawing  from  which  this 
view  was  copied  must  have  been  made  between  1642,  when  the  castle  was  put 
in  condition  for  defence,  and  1656,  when  it  was  dismantled. 

A    "  PERSWASIYE  "'    TO  UNITY I184 

From  a  broadside,  "A  Pious  and  Seasonable  Perswasive  to  the  Sonnes  of 
Zion,  soveraignely  useful  for  Composing  their  Unbrotherly  Devisions,"  1647. 

Denzil  Holles  {frontispiece,  by  R.   White,  to  Holies s  "  Memoirs"  1699)     .    .    .     1186 

Anderson's  Place,  Newcastle-on-Tyne 11S7 

The  house  in  which  Charles  I.  lodged. 

Vol.  Ill— B 


lxvm  NOTES   ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


Blacksmiths,  middle  seventeenth  century  {Roxburghe  BaUad) 1188 

Countryman  and  Citizen .    .     1189 

From  the  title-page  of  a  tract,  "The  Countrymans  Care,  and  the  Citizens 
feare,  in  bringing  up  their  Children  in  good  Education  ;  set  forth  in  a  Dialogue 
between  a  Citizen  and  a  Country-Man,"  1641.  The  countryman  is  warned  not 
to  send  his  son  to  the  University,  because  it  is  corrupted  by  Popish  supersti- 
tions ;  not  to  make  him  a  "minister  of  God's  word,"  because  "  you  may  see 
Coblers  and  Tinkers,  arising  from  the  very  Dunghill,  beating  the  Pulpits  as 
conformably  as  if  they  were  Kings  professors  of  Divinity  ;  "  such  persons  preach 
in  barns.  He  is  also  advised  not  to  make  his  son  a  divine,  or,  if  he  do,  "he 
must  have  good  care  least  the  Archbishop  doe  not  cut  of  his  eares.  But  I  will 
free  you  from  that  feare,"  adds  the  citizen,  "for  I  tell  once  againe,  there  will 
be  no  more  Bishops."  The  citizen  ends  by  advising  his  friend  to  apprentice 
his  son  to  a  vintner,  as  the  youth  may  thereby  one  day  become  an  alderman — 
evidently  an  allusion  to  the  career  of  Alderman  Abel  ;  see  above,  p.  lxii. 

Henry  Ireton  {from  an  engraving  by  Houbrakcn  of  a  miniature  by  S.  Cooper)    .     1 190 

Part  of  a  suit  of  gilt  armour  given  by  the  City  of  London  to  Charles  I. 

{Tower  of  London) 1191 

Gateway  of  Carisbrook  Castle  {after  J.  M.  IV.  Turner) 1195 

"  The  Humble  Petition  of  Jock  of  Bread  "  {title-page  of  a  tract,  1648)  .    .    .     1196 
Jock's  Petition  complains  of  the  civil  war  and  the  disturbances  in  Scotland, 
and  desires  a  better  settlement  of  divine  worship. 

Siege-piece,  Colchester  {British  Museum) 1198 

Cut  out  of  some  article  of  gold  plate,  stamped,  and  used  instead  of  coin 
during  the  siege,  1648.      Silver  pieces  were  also  made  in  the  same  way. 

Colchester  Castle  {after  IV.  H.  Bartlett) 1199 

Trial  OF  Charles  I.  (Nalson,  "A  true  Copy  of  the  Journal  of  the  High  Court  of 

Justice  for  the  Try 'al  of  King  Charles  I, "   1684) 1 20 1 

A  is  the  King  ;  B,  Bradshaw,  President  of  the  Court  ;  C,  John  Lisle,  D, 
William  Say,  assistants  to  the  president  ;  E,  Andrew  Broughton,  F,  John 
Phelps,  clerks  of  the  court ;  G,  the  table,  with  the  mace  of  the  Commonwealth 
and  the  sword  of  state  lying  on  it  ;  H,  commissioners  ;  I,  the  achievement  of 
the  Commonwealth  ;  K,  Cromwell  ;  L,  Henry  Martyn  ;  M,  spectators  ;  N, 
the  floor  of  the  hall,  matted  and  kept  clear  ;  O,  passage  leading  from  the 
Court  of  Wards,  through  which  the  commissioners  entered  the  hall ;  P,  guard 
attending  the  commissioners  ;  Q,  guard  attending  the  King ;  R,  passage 
railed  off  for  the  king  between  his  seat  and  the  stairs  ;  S,  counsel  for  the 
Commonwealth  :  T,  stairs  ;  U,  passage  leading  to  Sir  R.  Cotton's  house, 
where  the  king  was  confined  ;  W  and  X,  passages  kept  clear  by  soldiers  ;  Y, 
spectators  ;  Z,  officers. 

Oliver  Cromwell  {from  a  contemporary  Dutch  print) 1204 

c 
Frontispiece  to  Eikon  Basilike,  164- 1207 

9 
Drogheda  {drawing,  c.  1680,  in  British  Museiuii) 1209 

S.  Laurence's  Gate,  Drogheda 12 10 

From  a  photograph.  This  and  one  other  gate  are  the  sole  remnants  left  by 
Cromwell  of  the  fortifications  of  Drogheda.  It  had  once  a  complete  circle  of 
walls,  and  of  gates  no  less  than  ten. 

Reginald's  Tower,  Waterford  {after  W.  H.  Bartlett) 121 1 

One  of  the  two  towers  which  alone  remain  of  the  fortifications  of  Waterford. 
The  "Reginald"  whose  name  it  bears  is  a  Danish  Ragnald,  ruler  of  the 
Ostmen  of  Waterford  in  the  eleventh  century.  The  present  building  was  pro- 
bably erected  by  the  Anglo-Norman  conquerors  in  the  twelfth  or  early  thirteenth 
century,  on  the  site  of  an  earlier  fortress  which  may  have  been  destroyed  in 
the  war  of  invasion. 

Cork  in  the  Seventeenth  Century  {Stafford,  "  Pacata  Hibernia,"  1633)  •    •    1212 
Dunbar I2I4 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATION-  lxix 


^AGE 

Medal  for  Victory  of  Dunbar,  1650 1215 

On  7th  Sept.,  1650,  the  House  of  Commons  resolved  "that  their  special 
thanks  be  conveyed  to  the  Lord  General  for  his  eminent  services  at  the  great 
victory  of  Dunbar,  and  that  his  Excellency  be  desired  to  return  their  thanks  abo 
to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army,  and  that  a  number  of  gold  and  silver 
medals  be  distributed  among  them."'  These  medals  are  now  extremely  rare  ; 
the  British  Museum  possesses  specimens  of  them  in  both  metals,  and  from  one 
of  these  the  present  illustration  is  made.  The  design  was  suggested  by  Crom- 
well himself;  the  representation  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  reverse  is 
noticeable,  as  showing  the  same  feeling  as  the  Great  Seal  of  the  Common- 
wealth see  below,  p.  1221),  the  medal  of  the  Earl  of  Manchester  (above,  p.  1 1 53  . 
and  some  other  medals  of  the  time.  The  Dunbar  medal  was  the  work  of 
Thomas  Simon,  the  finest  English  medallist  of  the  day,  who  was  sent  by  the 
Parliament  to  Scotland  expressly  to  take  the  "effigies,  portrait  or  statue  of  the 
Lord  General,  to  be  placed  on  the  medal  "  ;  and  he  had  some  difficulty  in 
satisfying  the  Lord  General  with  the  likeness. 

"The  Scots  holding  their  young  King's  Nose  to  the    Grindstone" 

{broadside,  165 1,  in  the  British  Museum) 1216 

Crowning  of  Charles  II.  at  Scone 121 7 

From  "  Konincklijcke  Beltenis,  &c,  van  Karel  de  II.",  Dordrecht,  1661. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  number  of  illustrations  of 
English  history  are  supplied  by  contemporary  Dutch  engravings  ;  and  the  con- 
nexion between  the  two  countries  was  so  close  that  these  engravings  need  not 
be  regarded  as  wholly  fancy  pictures.  In  the  present  case  the  church  is  evidently 
drawn  from  the  artist's  own  imagination,  or  from  some  building  in  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  worship  ;  but  its  arrangement  probably  represents  fairly 
that  of  a  Presbyterian  kirk  of  the  period. 

Flight  of  Charles  II.  from  Worcester  {"Konincklijcke  Beltenis")    ....    1218 

Charles  II.  and  Jane  Lane  ("  Konincklijcke  Beltenis'') 1219 

Jane  Lane  acted  as  Charles's  guide  during  a  part  of  his  flight  in  disguise  after 
the  battle  of  Worcester.  They  are  here  represented  making  their  way  through 
a  troop  of  Roundheads,  who  do  not  recognize  the  fugitive. 

Great  Seal  of  the  Commonwealth,  1651 1220,  1221 

A  unique  design  for  a  great  seal  ;  obverse,  map  of  England  and  Ireland  ; 
reverse,  the  House  of  Commons  in  session.  It  shows  the  noble  conception 
which  Cromwell  had  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  what  he  desired  to  make  it. 
The  seal  was  the  work  of  Thomas  Simon,  the  maker  of  the  medal  for  Dunbar 
(see  above,  p.  12 15).  The  beautiful  workmanship  of  this  artist  and  of  several 
of  his  contemporaries,  and  the  lavish  employment  of  them  by  the  Government, 
shows  that  the  refined  taste  and  lofty  feeling  for  art  noticed  in  p.  941  as  strong 
in  the  early  days  of  Puritanism  had  by  no  means  died  out  even  in  its  later 
phases  and  amid  the  troubles  of  the  Civil  War. 

Light  Horseman,  temp.  Oliver  Cromwell 1222 

From  a  figure  in  the  possession  of  Captain  Orde  Browne,  who  has  kindly 
had  it  photographed  for  this  book.  The  armour  came  from  the  Tower.  The 
three-barred  cavalry  helmet,  the  long  steel  gauntlet  on  the  left  hand,  the 
leather  glove  on  the  right,  and  the  steel  breast-piece  (on  the  right  side  of  which 
a  bullet-mark  is  distinctly  visible)  formed  the  regular  accoutrement  of  the  light 
horseman  under  Cromwell.  The  dress  is  made  up,  but  correct,  except  that 
there  ought  to  be  no  seam  across  the  right  flap  of  the  coat. 

The  "Sampson,"  "  Salvador,"  and  "St.  George"  (satirical  print  in  British 

Museum)       1223 

These  three  ships  and  their  cargoes  were  captured  by  the  English  in  1652. 
They  were  sailing  under  Dutch  colours,  but  to  escape  confiscation  they  produced 
forged  papers  in  Flemish  and  Spanish,  and  the  ambassador  of  Spain  claimed 
them  for  his  sovereign.  A  London  silversmith  named  Violet,  who  knew  the 
tricks  of  the  contraband  trade  through  having  been  much  engaged  in  it  himself, 
discovered  the  vessels  to  be  Dutch,  and  they  and  their  cargoes  were  confiscated 
accordingly. 


fxx  NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Dutch  Satire  on  the  English  Government,  1652 1224 

From  a  Dutch  broadside,  "Impotent  ambition  shown  to  the  life  in  the 
present  government  of  obdurate  England."  A  satire  on  the  results  of  Blake's 
fight  with  Tromp,  whereby  the  peace  between  England  and  Holland  was  broken. 
Cromwell  is  trampling  on  the  broken  treaty  ;  Hugh  Peters,  "  once  a  preacher 
and  now  a  colonel  in  London,"  blows  into  his  ear  with  a  pair  of  bellows  de- 
corated with  three  crowns,  i.e.,  advises  him  to  assume  the  crowns  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland  ;  before  him  stand  Blake,  Fairfax,  and  some  members  of 
Parliament.  Some  Levellers  are  presenting  a  petition  ;  and  some  women  and 
children  are  appealing  to  Cromwell  against  the  pressing  of  their  husbands  and 
fathers  as  seamen  for  the  war  ;  the  ships  are  seen  in  the  distance.  _  A  dog  is 
guarding  the  sceptre  and  crown  against  another  dog.  On  the  wall  is  a  picture 
of  Tromp  as  a  doctor,  physicking  and  bleeding  Cromwell. 

Admiral  Martin  Harpentzoon  Tromp,  "Grandfather  of  the  Sailors  " 

(from  an  engraving  by  Snidcrhoef,  after  H.  Pott) 1225 

Admiral  De  Ruyter  (from  an  etching  by  A.  Blotelingh) 1226 

Admiral  Blake  (from  T.  Preston's  engraving,  c.  1730,  of  a  picture  then  in  the 

possession  of  J.  Ames)  1 227 

Medal  commemorating  Blake's  Victories,  1653 .     1228 

By  Thomas  Simon.  Four  of  these  gold  medals  were  struck  by  order  of  Par- 
liament ;  two,  with  gold  chains  worth  ^300  each,  were  presented  to  Blake  and 
Monk  ;  two,  with  chains  worth  ^"ioo  each,  to  Admirals  Penn  and  Lawson. 
The  original  die  of  the  reverse  is  in  the  British  Museum  ;  the  obverse  is  here 
copied  from  Pinkerton's  "  Medallic  History  of  England." 

Satire  on  the  Rump  Parliament 1229 

One  of  a  pack  of  playing  cards  designed  in  the  reign  of  Charles  IT.,  and  now 
in  the  possession  of  Earl  Nelson  ;  here  reproduced,  by  permission,  from  a 
facsimile  issued  by  Messrs.  Goldsmid,  of  Edinburgh. 

Sir  Harry  Vane  (picture  by  Sir  Peter  Lely,  at  Raby  Castle)  .     • 1230 

Shaft  of  the  Mace  of  the  House  of  Commons  (Antiquary) 1231 

In  1649  the  Commons  had  a  new  mace  made  for  their  Speaker  by 
Thomas  Maunday,  the  best  English  silversmith  of  the  day.  This  was  the 
"bauble"  turned  out  by  Cromwell.  At  the  Restoration  a  new  head  and 
base  were  fitted  to  Maunday 's  shaft  ;  the  shaft  alone  is  therefore  figured  here. 

Cromwell  expelling  the  Parliament,  1653 1232 

From  a  satirical  Dutch  print,  in  the  British  Museum.     Cromwell,  Lambert, 
Cooper   and    Strickland    are   bidding    the    members     "begone";    Harrison 
"lends  "  the  Speaker  "  a  hand  to  come  down  "  (see  p.  1231)  ;  near  the  Chair 
Cromwell  again  appears,  having  seized  the  mace,  and  in  the  act  of  driving  out 
a  goose  with  a  peacock's  tail.      In  the  foreground  are  two  dogs,  one  of  them 
being  evidently  a  caricature  of  the  British  lion,  who  is  often  satirized  thus  in 
Dutch  prints  of  the  time.     The  owl  with  spectacles,  and  carrying  a  lighted 
candle  fixed  on  a  collar  round  its  neck,   is  a  detail  frequently  introduced  in 
Dutch  satirical  compositions  of  this  period.     It  occurs  in  a  picture  by  Jan 
Steen,   now    in  the    Rijks-Museum   at    Amsterdam  (No.    T  1379),  where  the 
painter  has  added  the  motto,  in  minute  characters,  as  follows  : 
"  Wat  baeten  Kaers  of  Bril 
Als  den  Uil  niet  sien  wil." 
i.e.    "  Of  what  use  are  candle  or  spectacles  when  the  owl  will  not  see  ?  " 

A  Roper  and  a  Cordwainer • 1236 

A  Potter 1236 

A  Tailor 1237 

A  Shoemaker 1237 

A  Blacksmith 1238 

A  Spectacle  maker 1238 

Paper-makers 1239 

A  Book-binder 1239 

These  eight  illustrations  are  from  the  English  edition,  by  Charles  Hoole, 
published  in  1659,  of  Comenius's  (or  Komensky's)  "  Orbis  sensualium  pictus." 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS  lxxi 


PAGE 

The  Exchange,  Ne\vcastle-on-Tyne  (Brand,  " History  of  Newcastle")   .    .    .     1240 
Built  1655-1658. 

White  Hart  Inn,   Scole,  Norfolk    Richardson,  "  Studies  from  Old  English 

Mansions'') 1 24 1 

Built  in  1655  by  John  Peck,  a  merchant  of  Norwich.  The  sign,  of  carved 
oak,  was  the  work  of  John  Fairchild  ;  it  was  taken  down  early  in  the  present 
century,  and  is  restored  in  Richardson's  engraving  from  a  drawing  made  by 
J.  Kirby  in  1740,  and  preserved  in  the  inn.  This  sign,  35  feet  long,  and  2>2> 
feet  high,  had  in  the  middle  a  pendent  figure  of  a  White  Hart  with  the  shield  of 
Peck  hanging  from  its  neck,  a  Latin  motto  taken  from  Virgil,  "  They  are  filled 
with  old  wine  and  rich  flour,'"'  and  the  date,  "  Anno  Dom.  1655."  ^n  tne  two 
sides  of  the  post  supporting  the  end  of  the  sign  were  figures  of  Cerberus  ar.d 
of  Charon  in  his  boat;  the  corbel  supporting  the  post  against  the  wall  was 
carved  with  Jonah  issuing  from  the  whale's  mouth.  The  middle  part  of  the 
cornice  represented  the  story  of  Diana  and  Actceon,  in  figures  as  large  as  life, 
and  with  another  Latin  inscription,  ''Time,  the  devourer  of  all  things,  Diana. 
I  am  Acueon  ;  recognise  your  master."'  The  other  decorations  comprised 
figures  of  Saturn  supporting  a  weather-cock,  Neptune  on  a  dolphin,  Bacchus  on 
a  wine-barrel,  Prudence,  Fortitude,  Temperance,  Justice,  a  shepherd,  and  a 
huntsman  ;  crowning  the  whole  was  an  astronomer  seated  on  a  circumferentor, 
and  so  constructed  that  in  fine  weather  he  faced  the  north,  and  in  bad  weather 
the  quarter  whence  a  change  was  about  to  come.  The  mythological  and  fan- 
tastic character  of  the  whole  design  is,  considering  its  date,  even  more  remark- 
able than  its  elaborate  workmanship,  and  shows  very  strikingly  how  much  of 
the  Renascence  influence,  noticed  in  pp.  941  and  947  as  strong  in  the  early 
days  of  Puritanism,  had  lingered  on  even  into  its  later  and  sterner  period. 

"  The  Royall  Oakeof  Brittayne  :'  satirical  print  in  British  Museum)  .  .  1244 
Cromwell,  standing  on  "  a  slippery  place,"  above  the  mouth  of  Hell,  and 
beneath  the  avenging  fires,  "late  but  determined,"  of  Heaven,  directs  the 
cutting  down  of  the  Royal  Oak,  which  represents  the  English  constitution. 
Monarchy  ("Eikon  Basilike"),  Religion  the  Bible),  Liberty  ("Magna 
Charta"),  Law  and  Order  ("Statutes"  and  "  Reportes  "\  hang  on  its 
branches  and  fall  with  it.  A  group  of  men  gather  up  the  fallen  bough-  ; 
some  swine,  "  fatted  for  slaughter,"  represent  the  common  people  in  whose 
interest  this  destruction  is  nominally  wrought,  and  who  are  destined  to  be  its 
real  victims. 

Second  Great  Seal  of  Protector  Oliver,  1655-8 1246,  1247 

By  Thomas  Simon.  The  royal  arms  and  the  map  of  England  and  Ireland 
have  here  given  place  to  a  heraldic  design  composed  of  the  emblems  of 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland  (the  crosses  of  S.  George  and  S.  Andrew,  and 
the  harp)  ;  a  griffin  takes  the  place  of  the  unicorn  as  dexter  supporter,  as  it 
had  done  for  some  years  past  on  the  seals  of  the  Lord  Chief  Justices  of 
England  ;  beneath  is  Cromwell's  motto,  "  Peace  is  sought  through  war."  On 
the  reverse  is  Cromwell  on  horseback,  a  striking  contrast  to  Charles  I.  in  p. 
1 140.  The  shield  behind  him  is  the  same  as  that  on  the  obverse  of  the  seal, 
but  it  has  in  the  middle  an  escutcheon  of  pretence  charged  with  the  arms  of 
Cromwell. 

Satire  on  the  Earl  of  Argyll  and  the  Scotch  Presbyterians  [Messrs. 

Goldsmid  s  facsimile  of  playing-card  in  the  possess  on  of  Earl  Nelson)    ....     1249 

A  Street  in  Galway  {after  IV.  H.  Bartlett) 125c 

The  house  on  the  right,  known  as  Lynch's  mansion,  was  the  residence  of 
Thomas  Lynch  FitzAmbrose,  mayor  of  Galway,  who  was  driven  out  as  a 
Catholic  by  Cromwell  in  1654.  Since  Bartlett's  drawing  was  made  the  lower 
part  of  this  house  has  been  altered,  and  the  house  facing  it  has  been  pulled 
down  ;  both  are  given  here  as  illustrations  of  the  Saracenic  character  noticeable 
in  the  architecture  of  many  old  buildings  in  Galway,  and  doubtless  due  to  the 
intercourse  with  Spain  which  was  a  chief  source  of  the  commercial  prosper, 
of  the  town.  The  Lynches  were  the  most  illustrious  of  the  families  known  as 
the  "  tribes  of  Galway,"  from  the  fidelity  with  which  they  stood  together  in 
their  resistance  to  Cromwell.  The  first  recorded  provost  of  Galway  was 
Thomas  "de  Lince,"  in  1274;  the  last  was  John  Lynche  Fitz  Edmund,  in 
1285  ;  the    first    mayor    was    Pierce   Lynche,   in   the    same  year.      The    chief 


lxxii  NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


magistracy  of  the  city,  under  the  various  titles  of  Provost,  Sovereign,  and 
Mayor,  was  held  by  a  Lynch  ninety-four  times  between  1274  and  1654. 
The  mansion  was  probably  built  late  in  the  fifteenth  or  early  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  On  its  front  are  sculptured  the  arms  of  the  Lynch  family,  with  their 
crest,  a  lynx  ;  and  also  a  group  representing  a  monkey  and  a  child,  in  allusion  to 
a  story  that  when  the  house  was  on  fire  a  child  of  the  family  had  been  saved 
by  a  pet  monkey. 

Irish  Man  and  Woman  {Hollars  Map  of  Ireland,  1653) 1251 

An  Irish  Milkmaid .    .    .    1251 

Reproduced,  by  permission,  from  facsimile  published  by  the  Kilkenny 
Archaeological  Society  (now  the  Royal  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Ireland)  of  a 
drawing  in  Thomas  Dineley's  (or  Dinglev's),  MS.  "Tour  through  Ireland," 
1681. 

Facsimiles  of  Irish  MSS.,  a.d.   1634-1650 1252 

These  facsimiles,  from  Professor  O'Curry's  "  Lectures  on  Materials  for  Irish 
History,"  are  given  in  continuation  of  the  series  begun  in  p.  909.  After  the 
Elizabethan  conquest  the  national  literature  almost  died  out  for  a  time.  After 
a  few  years  of  quiet  it  sprung  however  into  new  life.  First  Keating,  parish 
priest  of  Tubrid  near  Clonmel,  compiled,  about  1626-30,  a  history  of  Erinn 
from  the  earliest  times  to  1170.  This  work,  written  among  the  caves  and 
rocks  of  the  Galtee  mountains  where  the  author  was  hiding  from  a  local  tyrant, 
is  still  of  value,  as  much  of  it  is  derived  from  original  sources  which  are 
now  lost.     Of  Keatiug's  own  MS.  however  no  trace  now  exists. 

The  first  specimen  here  given  is  from  the  original  MS.,  preserved  in  the 
Museum  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy,  of  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters.  It 
consists  of  the  opening  paragraph  of  the  dedication  :  "I  beseech  God  to 
bestow  every  happiness  that  may  conduce  to  the  welfare  of  his  body  and  soul 
upon  Fearghal  O'Gara,  Lord  of  Magh-Ui-Gadhra  and  Cuil  O  bh-  Finn,  one 
of  the  two  knights  of  Parliament  who  were  elected  and  sent  from  the  County 
of  Sligo  to  Dublin,  this  year  of  grace  1634" — i.e.,  the  famous  Parliament 
summoned  by  Wentworth  ;  see  p.  1084.  It  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Michael 
O'Clery,  the  chief  of  the  "Four  Masters  "  by  whom  the  work  was  compiled, 
and  from  whom  it  derives  its  name.  He  thus  tells  his  own  story,  and  that  of 
his  book  :  "I,  Michael  O'Clery,  a  poor  Friar  of  the  Order  of  S.  Francis,  have 
come  before  you,  O  noble  Fearghal  O'Gara.  I  have  calculated  on  your  honour 
that  it  seemed  to  you  a  cause  of  pity  and  regret,  grief  and  sorrow  (for  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  honour  of  Ireland),  how  much  the  race  of  Gaedhil  the  son  of 
Niul  have  passed  under  a  cloud  of  darkness,  without  a  knowledge  or  record  of 
the  death  or  obit  of  saint  or  virgin,  archbishop,  bishop,  abbot,  or  other 
noble  dignitary  of  the  Church,  of  king  or  of  prince,  of  lord  or  of  chieftain,  or  of 
the  synchronism  or  connexion  of  the  one  with  the  other.  I  explained  to  you 
that  I  thought  I  could  get  the  assistance  of  the  chroniclers  for  whom  I  had  most 
esteem,  in  writing  a  book  of  Annals  in  which  these  matters  might  be  put  on 
record  ;  and  that,  should  the  writing  of  them  be  neglected  at  present,  they 
would  not  again  be  found  to  be  put  on  record  or  commemorated,  even  to  the 
end  of  the  world.  There  were  collected  by  me  all  the  best  and  most  copious 
books  of  annals  that  I  could  find  throughout  all  Ireland  (though  it  was  diffi- 
cult for  me  to  collect  them  to  one  place),  to  write  this  book  in  your  name,  and 
to  your  honour ;  for  it  was  you  that  gave  the  reward  of  their  labour  to  the 
chroniclers  by  whom  it  was  written  ;  and  it  was  the  Friars  of  the  convent  of 
Donegal  that  supplied  them  with  food  and  attendance." 

The  second  facsimile  is  from  the  same  MS  ,  and  gives  the  signature  of 
Michael  O'Clery,  appended  to  the  dedication. 

The  third  is  from  a  MS.  (II.  i.  18)  in  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  the  Chronic  on 
Scotorum,  an  abstract  of  early  Irish  history  down  to  the  vear  1 135,  in  the  fine  bold 
autograph  of  the  compiler,  Duald  Mac  Firbis.  This  man  was  the  last  of  a  long 
line  of  historians  and  scholars  whose  ancestral  home  was  at  Lecain,  in  county 
Sligo.  In  1650  he  seems  to  have  finished  the  compilation  of  his  two  principal 
works,  the  Chronicon  Scotorum,  and  a  book  of  pedigrees  of  Irish  families.  In 
1670,  when  over  eighty  years  of  age,  he  was  murdered  at  Dunflin  by  a  personal 
enemy  who  felt  himself  secure  from  punishment,  his  victim  being  under  the  ban 
of  the   penal  laws.      Mac  Firbis  was,  savs  Professor  O'Currv,  "  the  last  of  the 


NOTES    ON   THE    ILLUSTRATIONS  lxxiii 


PACE 

regularly  educated  and  most  accomplished  masters  of  the  history,  antiquities, 
laws  and  language  of  ancient  Erinn."  Under  the  Cromwellian  settlement  of 
Ireland  the  traditional  Irish  scholarship,  which  had  struggled  so  long  and  so 
hard  for  existence,  at  last  died  out.     Our  own  age  has  witnessed  its  revival. 

Cardinal  Richelieu  {picture  by  P.  de  Champaigne,  in  the  National  Gallery)  .    .     1255 

Map  of  Europe  in  1648 1256 

Autograph  note  of  Oliver  Cromwell  {India  Office) 1258 

Scrawled,  with  characteristic  blots,  on  a  petition  of  the  East  India  Company, 
November  1657. 

Tetbury  Markkt-flace  (from  an  old  drawing) 1260 

The  market-house  here  shown  was  built  in  1655.  It  was  demolished  in 
1750,  and  replaced  by  one  in  a  very  different  style  of  architecture. 

The  Lord  High  Admiral  (after  IV.  Holla?-) 1264 

Robert,  Earl  of  Warwick,  named  by  Parliament  to  the  command  of  the  fleet 
in  1642  (see  p.  1139),  carried,  as  Lord  High  Admiral,  the  sword  of  state 
at  the  inauguration  of  Oliver  Cromwell  as  Protector. 

Whitehall  from  the  River  (after  IV.  Hollar) 1265 

Whitehall,  built  by  Wolsey  (see  p.  635),  passed  at  his  fall  into  the  hands  of 
Henry  VIII.,  ami  became  the  usual  London  residence  of  later  sovereigns,  by 
whom  it  was  much  altered.  Oliver  Cromwell  took  _up  his  abode  there  as 
Protector. 

"  The  Horrible  Tail-man  "  (Dutch  satire,  1658,  in  British  Museum)  .  .  .  1266 
Cromwell  receives  from  Fairfax  three  crowns  ;  "  Adm.  Black  "  (Blake)  and 
some  members  of  Parliament  stand  by.  Cromwell  has  a  long  serpent-like  tail, 
composed  of  the  coin  of  the  Commonwealth,  of  which  a  Zealander  ("  Zeeuw  "), 
a  Hollander,  a  Frisian  ("Fries"),  an  Irishman  ("  Yer")  with  a  knife,  Prince 
Rupert  ("  Prins  Robhert  "),  a  Scot  (with  a  sword),  and  a  Royalist  ("  Conings- 
man  ")  are  all  trying  to  seize  shares. 

A  Party  at  the  Duke  hf  Newcastle's  House  .    .    .       1268 

Frontispiece  to  "Nature's  Pictures,"  by  Margaret  Duchess  of  Newcastle, 
1656.  The  two  persons  crowned  with  laurel  are  the  authoress  and  her 
husband  the  Duke,  whose  portrait  is  in  p.  1 137. 

Satire  on  Richard  Cromwell  (Dutch  broadside  in  British  Museum)  ....  1272 
Richard  Cromwell,  dressed  as  a  cooper,  with  a  mallet  breaks  up  a  cask  from 
which  issue  a  number  of  owls  bearing  candles  and  crying  "  King  "  as  they  fly 
away.  "  Pickleherring,"  a  Fool,  lifts  up  his  hands  in  amazement  at  Richard's 
folly.  On  the  wall  is  a  picture  of  the  Frogs  and  their  King  Stork  (Oliver), 
and  another  of  a  State  proclamation  (evidently  meant  for  that  of  King  Log, 
i.e.,  Charles  II.)  taking  place  in  the  courtyard  of  a  house,  above  the  door  of 
which  is  the  shield  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  broadside  has  verses  in 
French  and  German,  explaining  the  print  and  ending  with  the  fable  of  the 
Frogs  and  their  King. 

General  Monk  (miniature  by  S.  Cooper  at  Windsor  Castle) I274 

General  Lambert  (from  an  old  print) 1275 

Charles  II.  embarking  for  England  ("  Konincklijcke  Beltenis  van  Karel  II" 

1660)      1276 

Entry  of  Charles  II.  into  London  (from  the  same) 1277 

Banquet  at  Whitehall  (/m«  //w  raw) 1278 

Monument  of  John  Donne 1280 

In  S.  Paul's  Cathedral.  The  inscription  runs  :  "  After  the  various  studies 
to  which  from  his  earliest  years  he  devoted  himself  faithfully  and  not  unsuccess- 
fully, by  the  inspiration  and  impulse  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  on  the  advice  and 
exhortation  of  King  James  he  embraced  holy  orders  in  the  year  of  his  beloved 
Jesus  1614,  and  of  his  own  age  42.  He  was  invested  with  the  deanery  of  this 
Church  27  November  1621,  and  divested  of  it  by  death  on  the  last  day  of 
March  163 1.  Here,  though  in  decaying  ashes,  he  looks  for  Him  whose 
Name  is  the  Dayspring. "  A  striking  proof  of  the  popularity  of  Donne  as  a 
poet  is  afforded  by  the  fact  that  nineteen  of  his  poems   were   translated  into 


lxxiv  NOTES   ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


Dutch  by  Constantijn  Huygens,  father  of  the  illustrious  Chnstiaan  Huygens 
the  philosopher.  The  poems  were  sent  to  him  by  some  English  friends  in 
1630,  and  are  included  in  the  complete  edition  of  his  works  (Groningen, 
1892-3).  The  monument,  of  very  fine  workmanship,  is  one  of  the  very  few  in  S. 
Paul's  that  escaped  destruction  in  the  Great  Fire.  Within  the  present  century 
it  has  been  restored  to  its  original  upright  position,  but  the  niche  in  which  it 
now  stands  is  smaller  than  that  which  it  occupied  before  the  Fire.  It  is  here 
engraved  from  a  drawing  specially  made  for  this  book. 

John  Milton  {frontispiece,  engraved  by   W.  Faithorne,   to  Milton's    "  History  of 

Britain,"  1670) I28r 

Milton's  Cottage  at  Chalfont  St.  Giles,  Bucks 1282 

"  Paradise  Lost  "  was  finished  and  "Paradise  Regained  "  projected  in  this 
cottage,  to  which  Milton  withdrew  for  a  short  time  in  1665  to  escape  the 
plague  that  had  broken  out  in  London.  It  is  the  only  one  of  Milton's  various 
dwelling-places  still  existing. 

Crown-piece  designed  by  Thomas  Simon  {Mint  Museum) 1285 

Simon,  the  greatest  English  medallist,  was  chief  engraver  of  the  Mint  from 
1646  till  the  Restoration  (examples  of  his  work  have  been  given  in  pp.  1215, 
1 221,  1228,  1246,  1247).  After  the  accession  of  Charles  a  Dutchman, 
Roettier,  was  appointed  assistant  engraver,  and  both  artists  made  pattern 
pieces  for  the  new  coinage.  "  For  the  honour  of  our  countrymen,"  writes 
Evelyn,  "I  cannot  here  omit  that  ingenious  trial  of  skill  which  a  commend- 
able emulation  has  produced  in  a  medal  performed  with  extraordinary  accuracy 
by  one  who,  having  been  deservedly  employed  in  the  Mint  at  the  Tower,  was 
not  willing  to  be  supplanted  by  foreign  competitors."  Simon's  magnificent 
crown-piece  has  on  its  obverse  a  bust  of  Charles,  with  the  words  "  Carolus 
Dei  Gra."  ("  Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God — ")  and  the  artist's  signature; 
on  the  reverse  are  four  crowned  escutcheons  of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland, 
and  France,  arranged  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  with  St.  George  and  the  Garter 
in  the  middle,  and  two  interlaced  C's  in  each  angle,  and  surrounded  by  the 
continuation  of  the  legend,  "Mag.  Bri.  Fr.  et  Hib.  Rex.  1663."  On  the 
edge,  in  two  lines,  is  engraved  Simon's  petition  :  "Thomas.  Simon,  most. 
humbly .  prays  .  your .  Majesty  .  to  .  compare  .  this  .  his  .  tryall  .  piece  .  with  . 
the  .  Dutch  .  and  .  if.  more  .  truly  .  drawn  .  and  .  embossed  .  more  .  gracefully  . 
ordered  .  and  .  more  .  accurately  .  engraven  .  to  .  relieve  .  him  .  "  To  this  fine 
piece  of  work  Charles  preferred  the  very  inferior  design  of  Roettier,  ordered 
him  to  make  the  new  dies,  and  soon  afterwards  appointed  him  chief  engraver 
to  the  Mint  instead  of  Simon,  who  was  made  engraver  of  royal  seals,  an  office 
which  he  continued  to  hold  during  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Ampulla  or  Anointing  Cruse 1286 

In  the  form  of  an  eagle.  English  work  of  the  seventeenth  century  ;  probably 
made  for  the  coronation  of  Charles  II.  ;  (now  among  the  Regalia  in  the  Tower). 
The  anointing  was  a  peculiarly  sacred  ceremony,  used  in  the  earliest  times 
only  for  the  Kings  of  England,  France,  Jerusalem,  and  Sicily  ;  in  later  days 
the  Kings  of  Scotland  obtained  the  privilege  of  anointing  by  special  grant 
from  the  Pope.  The  English  Kings  were  anointed  not  with  mere  holy  oil,  but 
with  a  specially  prepared  cream  which  was  consecrated  by  the  Primate  or  by 
some  bishop  deputed  by  him.  The  cream  used  for  anointing  Charles  I.  was 
thus  consecrated  by  Laud,  who  was  then  Bishop  of  St.  David's. 

Charles  II.   {illumination  in  letters  patent,    Q.R.    Miscell.    Books    118,    Public 

Record  Office) to  face  p.     1 286 

Satire  on  the  Puritans,  temp.  Charles  II.   {Messrs.    Goldsmid's  facsimile  of 

playing-cards  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Nelson)  .  1287,  1288,  1 289,  1 290,  1 29 1,    1292 

Monument  of  "  Democritus  Junior" ^94 

Robert  Burton,  author  of  the  "Anatomy  of  Melancholy,"  assumed  this 
name,  professing  himself  an  imitator  of  the  old  Greek  philosopher.  Born  in 
1577,  he  became  vicar  of  S.  Thomas's  Church,  Oxford,  in  1616,  rector  of 
Segrave  in  Leicester-hire  about  1630,  and  kept  both  livings  "with  much  ado 
to  his  dying  day."  The  "Anatomy"  was  published  in  1621  ;  "I  write  of 
melancholy,"  he  says,  "by  being  busy  to  avoid  melancholy."  According  to 
his  epitaph,    "Known  to  few,   unknown  to  yet  fewer,   here  lies  Democritus 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATION-  lxxv 


Junior,  to  whom  Melancholy  gave  both  life  and  death.'"'  He  died  almost  at 
the  exact  time  which  he  had  foretold  some  years  before  by  the  calculation  of 
his  nativity.  This  calculation  was  placed  on  the  monument  erected  by  his 
brother  above  his  grave  in  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  Oxford.  An  enlarged 
copy  of  the  horoscope  is  given  at  the  corner  of  the  engraving,  copied  from 
Nichols's  "History  of  Leicestershire.'' 

Elias  Ashmole,  Windsor  Herald,  and  William  Dugdale,  Xorroy  King 

OF  ARMS  {Sandford,  "  Funeral  of  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,"  1670) 1 295 

Elias  Ashmole,  born  161 7,  was  named  a  commissioner  of  excise  in  1 644  by 
Charles  I.,  to  whom  he  adhered  throughout  the  civil  war.  At  the  Restoration 
he  was  rewarded  with  the  office  of  Windsor  Herald,  from  which  he  retired  in 
1672.  He  was  considered  "  the  greatest  virtuoso  and  curioso  that  ever  was 
known  or  read  of  in  England  before  his  time."'  In  1682  he  presented  to  the 
University  of  Oxford  a  collection  of  curiosities,  natural  and  antiquarian, 
chiefly  left  to  him  by  his  friend  John  Tradescant,  keeper  of  the  Botanic  Gar- 
den at  Chelsea,  which  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Ashmolean  Museum.  He 
also  bequeathed  to  the  University  a  number  of  valuable  MSS.,  now  in  the 
Bodleian  Library. 

William  Dugdale,  famous  as  the  compiler  of  the  "  Monasticon  Anglicanum." 
"History  of  Warwickshire,"  "Baronage  of  England,"  and  other  valuable 
historical  works,  was  born  in  1605,  appointed  Blanch  Lyon  pursuivant  extra- 
ordinary in  1638,  Rouge  Croix  pursuivant  1639,  and  Chester  Herald  1644. 
During  the  early  part  of  the  civil  war  he  was  constantly  in  attendance  on  the 
King  or  employed  in  delivering  royal  warrants  ;  his  estates  were  in  conse- 
quence sequestrated  by  the  Parliament.  On  10  May,  1660,  he,  of  his  own 
accord,  proclaimed  Charles  II.  at  Coleshill  :  a  month  later  his  loyalty  was 
rewarded  with  the  office  of  Xorroy  King  of  Arms  ;  in  1677  he  was  knighted 
and  promoted  to  be  Garter  King  of  Arms  ;  he  died  in  1686. 

Ashmole  and  Dugdale  are  here  represented  as  they  appeared  at  the  public 
funeral  of  George  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  in  1670.  Ashmole,  as  Windsor 
Herald,  carried  in  the  procession  the  Duke's  target,  or  escutcheon,  surrounded 
by  the  ribbon  of  the  Garter  ;  Dugdale,  as  Xorroy,  carried  the  Duke's  sword. 
Francis  Sandford,  who  compiled  and  illustrated  the  account  of  the  ceremonv 
from  which  these  figures  are  taken,  was  himself  present  in  the  official  capacity 
of  Rouge  Dragon  pursuivant. 

William  Harvey  (from  J. Halt 's  engraving  of  a  picture  by  Cornells  Janssen  at 

the  Royal  College  of  Physicians,  London) 129S 

JOHN  Wilkins  (from  Blooteling's  engraving  of  a  picture  by  Mrs.  Beale)     ....     1297 
Wilkins  became  Bishop  of  Chester  in  1668. 

JOHN  Wallis  {portrait  by  Sir   Godfrey  Kneller,  painted  for  Samuel  Pepys  ;  now 

in  the  Bodleian  Library) 1298 

John  Wallis  was  born  at  Ashford  in  Kent  on  the  23rd  Xovember,  1616.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen  he  proceeded  to  Emmanuel  College  in  Cambridge,  was 
later  made  fellow  of  Queens',  and  took  orders.  In  the  Civil  War  he  joined 
the  side  of  the  Parliament,  and  served  his  party  by  deciphering  intercepted 
despatches.  In  1649  ne  was  appointed  Savilian  professor  of  Geometry  at 
Oxford  by  the  Parliamentary  visitors.  His  political  opinions,  however,  after- 
wards underwent  a  change,  and  he  was  enabled  to  employ  the  same  talent  for 
decipherment  in  the  interests  of  the  Royalists.  Accordingly  at  the  Restoration 
he  was  confirmed  in  his  appointment,  and  made  one  of  the  Royal  chaplains. 
He  died  on  the  28th  October,  1703.  Wallis's  principal  works  as  a  mathe- 
matician are  his  "  Arithmetic*  Infinitorum ''  (published  in  1655),  "Mathes 
Universalis"  (1657),  the  treatise  on  Mechanics  1669-1671  I,  and  the  treatise  on 
Algebra  (1685*.  Historically  considered  he  is  the  immediate  predecessor  of 
Xewton,  and  his  power  of  generalization,  in  which  he  surpassed  all  preceding 
mathematicians,  enabled  him  to  anticipate  many  of  the  results  if  not  the  actual 
processes  of  the  Integral  Calculus.  For  instance,  "  The  Binomial  Theorem 
was  a  corollary  of  the  results  of  Wallis  on  the  quadrature  of  curves,  the 
sagacity  of  Xewton  supplying  that  general  mode  of  expression  which  it  is 
extraordinary  that  Wallis  should  have  missed." 

The  portrait  of  Wallis  was  commissioned  by  Pepys.  as  he  says,  "to  be 
lodged  as  an  humble  present  of  mine,  though  a  Cambridge  man,  to  my   dear 


lxxvi  NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Aunt,  the  University  of  Oxford."  Kneller  went  to  Oxford  specially  to  paint 
it.  Writing  to  Pepys  he  says  :  "  And  I  can  show  I  never  did  a  better  picture, 
nor  so  good  a  one,  in  my  life,  which  is  the  opinion  of  all  as  has  seen  it."  The 
solemn  thanks  of  the  University  were  returned  to  Pepys  for  his  munificence 
on  October  30th,  1702. 

John  FLAMSTEED  {portrait  by  Gibson,  in  ihc  possession  of  the  Royal  Society)  .  .  .  1299 
John  Flamsteed  was  born  at  Denby,  near  Derby,  on  the  19th  August,  1646. 
In  1669  he  made  an  astronomical  contribution  to  the  Royal  Society,  and  from 
this  time  forward  his  reputation  increased,  until,  when  Charles  II.  founded  an 
Observatory,  he  was  appointed  astronomer  royal  or  "astronomical  observator. " 
He  began  his  residence  at  the  Observatory  in  1676.  From  this  time  until  his 
death  in  1 719  he  was  unceasingly  occupied  in  amassing  the  observations  after- 
wards published  in  his  "  Historia  Coelestis."  Flamsteed  has  been  called  not 
inaptly  "  Tycho  Brahe  with  a  telescope,"  and  his  observations  form  the  starting- 
point  and  foundation  of  modern  astronomy. 

Solution    of    the    problem    of   the    brachystochrone    or    curve    of 

quickest  descent  by  newton i3oo 

This  problem  was  proposed  for  solution  to  the  mathematicians  qui  toto  orbe 
florent  by  the  celebrated  John  Bernoulli  in  the  Acta  Eruditorum,  January, 
1697.  ^  was  required  to  determine  the  curve  in  which  a  body  would  descend 
in  the  quickest  time  from  one  given  point  to  another.  On  the  day  after  he 
received  the  problem  Newton  sent  the  solution  to  Mr.  Charles  Montague, 
the  President  of  the  Royal  Society.  He  announced  that  the  curve  was 
a  cycloid,  and  gave  a  method  of  determining  it.  Bernoulli  had  allowed  six 
months  for  the  solution  of  the  problem  ;  but  Leibniz,  who  also  produced  a 
solution,  begged  that  the  period  might  be  extended  to  twelve  months,  which 
Bernoulli  readily  granted.  When  the  solutions  were  sent  in,  one  of  them 
(Newton's)  was  anonymous  ;  but  Bernoulli  recognised  the  author,  as  he  said, 
tamquam  ex  ungue leonem — "  as  a  lion  from  his  claw." 

Signatures  of  Charles  II.  and  James,  Duke  of  York,  attached  to  the 

Charter  of  the  Royal  Society,  1663 1301 

We  have  a  contemporary  notice  of  the  signing  of  the  charter-book  by  the 
King  in  a  letter  from  R.  Moray  to  Christiaan  Huygens,  dated  20th  January, 
1665  ("  CEuvres  Completes  de  Christiaan  Huygens,"/.  215). 

"Seulement  faut  il  que  je  vous  die  que  le   Roy   a   signe   son   nom   dans 
nostre  liure  de  cette  facon. 

"  Charles  R.  et  au  dessous  Founder,  Son  Altesse  Royal o,  James,  et  plus 
bas  Fellow. 

"  Monsieur  le  prince  Royal  Rupert  et  plus  bas  Fellow,  aussi." 

The  King  and  the  Duke  of  York  signed  their  names  on  the  9th  January, 
1665,  and  the  book  was  produced  at  the  meeting  of  the  Society  which  took 
place  on  the  nth  of  the  same  month. 

The  Old  Observing-room,  Greenwich 1302 

Reproduced,  by  the  kind  permission  of  the  Astronomer  Royal,  from  a 
volume  of  Views  of  Greenwich  Observatory  preserved  there.  The  original 
engravings  appear  to  have  been  made  by  Flamsteed's  directions  to  illustrate 
his  "Historia  Ccelestis";  that  work,  however,  was  not  published  till  after 
his  death,  and  his  executors  apparently  omitted  the  illustrations.  The  Ob- 
servatory was  built  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren  ;  he  unfortunately  fixed  it  a  little 
askew  to  the  meridian,  and  has  thus  much  troubled  astronomers.  The  back 
part  of  the  building  consists  of  a  very  large  octagonal  room,  with  windows 
from  floor  to  ceiling  on  every  side,  so  as  to  give  openings  for  the  telescope  to 
be  set  towards  any  part  of  the  heavens.  This  view  gives  an  exact  representa- 
tion of  the  room  as  it  was  in  Flamsteed's  day,  with  the  three  original 
"observers"  at  their  work— Flamsteed  himself,  his  one  paid  assistant,  and  a 
N  friend,  Marsh,  who  gave  him  his  help.  From  the  imperfection  of  scientific 
instruments  at  that  time,  observations  could  only  be  taken  by  means  of  tele- 
scopes of  immense  length;  one  of  these  is  here  shown,  supported  in  a  primitive 
manner  on  the  rung  of  a  ladder  to  give  it  the  right  elevation,  and  stuck  out 
through  the  window  of  the  room. 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS  lxxvii 


PAGE 

Sir  Isaac  Newton*  {from  J.  Smith's  engraving  of  a  picture  by  Sir  G.  Knitter]     .     1303 

Woolsthorpe  House,  Lincolnshire 1304 

The  birthplace  of  Isaac  Newton. 

Cast  of  the  head  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  (in  the  possession  of  the  Royal  Society)  1305 

John  Hales  (frontispiece  to  his  "  Tracts,'1'  1677) 1306 

William  Chillingworth  (from  an  engraving  by  F.  A'yte) 1307 

Jeremy  Taylor  (from  an  engraving  by  P.  Lombart) 1308 

Thomas  Hobbes  (from  a  picture  by  Michael   Wright,   in  the  National  Portrait 

Gallery) 1 31 1 

Title-page  of  Hobbes's  "Leviathan,"  165 1 1312 

1<)HN  LOCKE  (from   G.    Vertue's  engraving  of  a  picture  by  Kneller) 1315 

A  Game  of  Tennis  (English  edition,  1 659,  ofComenius's  '  *  Orbis  sensualium pictus  ")  1 3 1 6 

"  Boyes  Sports"  (from  the  same) 1317 

Mace  of  the  Bailiff  of  Jersey 1318,   1319 

The  present  Bailiff  of  Jersey  has  kindly  caused  this  mace,  of  which  no 
reproduction  has  ever  before  been  made,  to  be  photographed  specially  for  this 
book.  It  bears  a  Latin  inscription  which  may  be  thus  translated  :  "All  are 
not  esteemed  worthy  of  such  honour.  Charles  II.,  the  most  serene  King  of 
Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland,  desired  that  his  royal  affection  towards  the 
island  of  Jersey,  where  he  twice  found  a  refuge  when  he  was  shut  out  of  his 
other  dominions,  should  be  displayed  to  posterity  by  this  truly  regal  memorial. 
He  therefore  bade  that  it  should  henceforth  be  carried  before  the  Bailiffs,  in 
memory  of  the  fidelity  preserved  towards  his  august  father  Charles  I. ,  as  well 
as  to  himself,  by  the  illustrious  knights  Philip  and  George  Casteret,  bailiffs 
and  royal  prefects  of  this  island."  Charles  further  granted  to  Jersey  a  charter 
with  a  special  clause  allowing  "for  the  great  constancy,  fidelity  and  loyalty 
which  the  bailiffs  and  jurats  and  all  other  inhabitants  of  the  said  island  have 
shown  to  us  and  our  predecessors,"  the  bailiff  for  all  future  time  to  have  a 
mace  carried  before  him. 

Stables  at  Marple  Hall,  Cheshire 1321 

Marple  Hall  was  the  seat  of  the  Bradshaw  family.  The  house  was  built,  c. 
1658,  by  Colonel  Henry  Bradshaw,  elder  brother  of  John  Bradshaw  the  regi- 
cide ;  the  stables  are  dated  1669.  This  engraving  is  kindly  lent  by  Mr. 
Earwaker  from  his  "East  Cheshire." 

A  Bishop,  temp.  Charles  II.  (after  IV.  Hollar) 1322 

A  Judge,  temp.  Charles  II.  (after  IF.  Hollar) 1323 

Title-page  to  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  London,  1662 1325 

Mitre  of  Bishop  Wren,  1660-1667 1326 

Matthew  Wren,  Bishop  of  Ely  1638,  imprisoned  by  order  of  Parliament 
1640,  released  and  restored  to  his  see  1660,  built  and  endowed  in  1663  a  new 
chapel  at  Pembroke  Hall,  Cambridge,  where  he  had  formerly  studied.  In 
1667  he  died,  and  was  buried  in  the  chapel,  where  his  mitre  (here  reproduced 
from  a  photograph,  taken  specially  for  this  book)  is  now  preserved.  It  is  of 
English  workmanship,  silver-gilt,  with  repousse  decorations  ;  its  height  is 
11^  in.,  its  diameter  7^  in.  Fitting  into  it  is  a  cap  of  crimson  satin  lined  with 
white  silk,  and  the  state  of  this  lining  shows  that  the  mitre  had  been  not 
merely  fitted  on  but  worn — a  proof  that,  contrary  to  a  view  which  has  been 
frequently  asserted,  such  episcopal  ornaments  were  not  merely  treasured  by 
the  bishops  of  the  Restoration  for  their  intrinsic  value  or  their  artistic  beauty, 
but  actually  used,  by  some  prelates  at  least,  as  part  of  their  ecclesiastical 
attire. 

Mace  of  the  House  of  Commons  'J«/^«ar/)     1327 

Maunday's  shaft  of  1649  (see  above,  p.  1231),  with  a  new  head  and  base 
made  in  1660. 

Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of  Clarendon  (from  an  original  engraving  by  David 

Loggan) 1329 


lxxviii  NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


Anthony  Ashley  Cooper  (painting  by  Sir  Peter  I  ely,  in  possession  of  the  Earl 

of  Shaftesbury) J33° 

S.  Margaret's  Church,  Westminster,  1692- 1 721 1332 

From  a  rare  print  by  J.  Brock.  It  shows  the  east  window  dated  1692, 
which  was  removed  in  1721 ;  the  altar  and  reredos  as  they  existed  at  the  same 
period  ;  several  old  monuments,  now  gone,  on  the  north  side  ;  the  pew  of  the 
Speaker  of  the  Commons,  in  its  original  position  ;  and  a  striking  example  of 
the  arrangement  of  clerk's  desk,  reading  desk,  and  pulpit  common  in  the  last 
century,  and  vulgarly  known  as  a  "three-decker." 

The  Heretical   Synod  at  S alters'  Hall  .    .    . .    .    ■    1334 

The  meeting-house  adjoining  (and  originally  forming  part  of)  Salters'  Hall, 
Walbrook,  was  first  used  by  a  Presbyterian  congregation,  c.  1690.  In  1 710 
an  assembly  of  ministers  was  held  there  to  consider  what  steps  should  be 
taken  respecting  the  spread  of  Arian  opinions.  A  proposal  that  all  members 
should  be  required  to  subscribe  a  declaration  of  Trinitarian  faith  led  to  a  very 
stormy  discussion,  and  as  no  conclusion  was  arrived  at,  the  affair  gave  rise  to 
a  good  deal  of  satire,  of  which  the  print  here  reproduced  is  probably  an 
example.  It  shows  the  end  of  the  chapel  occupied  by  the  pulpit,  with 
sounding-board  above  and  reading-desk  below  ;  in  a  pew  directly  under  these, 
and  facing  the  same  way,  sit  "The  Four  Moderators."  Four  men  facing 
them  say,  "  We  are  for  no  Impositions  "  ;  one  of  a  group  in  the  gallery  calls 
out  to  the  crowd  below,  "All  you  that  are  for  the  Trinity  come  up,  we  have 
subscribed"  ;  one  of  two  men  in  the  fore-ground  says,  "  For  or  against  the 
Trinity,  beloved  ?  "  the  other,  who  has  two  faces,  holds  in  one  hand  a  paper 
inscribed  "  As  my  principles,"  and  in  the  other  a  second  paper,  "For  my 
interest." 

A  Nonconformist  Minister,  late  seventeenth  century  (Tempest's  Cries 

"of  London") 1335 

Fifty  plates,  representing  the  "Cries  of  the  City  of  London,"  were 
engraved  and  published  in  1688  by  Pierce  Tempest  after  drawings  by  Marcel 
Lauron,  or  Laroon.  Later  editions  were  issued,  with  additional  plates, 
either  by  Laroon  (who  died  1702)  or  by  his  son.  All  are  extremely  rare. 
The  copy  in  the  British  Museum,  from  which  these  illustrations  are  taken, 
dates  from  1 7 1 1 . 

A  Quakers'  Meeting,  late  seventeenth  century  (satirical  print,  probably 

by  Marcel  Lauron,  in  the  British  Museum) 1337 

RICHARD  Baxter  (picture  by  J.  Riley,  in  Dr.    Williams  s  Library,  London)    .    .     1338 

"The  Hebrew  Alphabet  writ  by  George  Fox  the  Proto  Quaker"  .    .     1339 
Attached  to  a  page  of  notes  on  the  Old  Testament,  part  of  which  is  in  the 
handwriting  of  George   Fox  ;  now  among  the  historical  autographs  in   the 
British  Museum. 

Bun  van's  Meeting-house,   Zoar  Street,  Gravel  Lane,  Southwark.  .    .     1340 

From  "  Londina  lllustrata,"  1819.  Three  Protestant  Nonconformist 
gentlemen,  named  Mallet,  Warburton  and  Holland,  profited  by  the 
Declaration  of  Indulgence  in  1687  to  build  this  chapel,  with  a  school-room 
attached,  at  a  cost  of  ^360.  It  came  to  be  known  as  "  Bunyan's  Meeting- 
house" ;  but  Bunyan  cannot  have  preached  in  it  more  than  once,  on  his  last 
visit  to  London,  as  he  died  within  sixteen  months  after  the  purchase  of  the 
ground  on  which  it  was  built. 

Gravel  Lane  Charity  School 1342 

The  school -room  connected  with,  and  under  a  part  of,  Bunyan's  Meeting- 
house ;  opened  by  the  founders  of  the  Meeting-house,  in  1587,  to  counteract 
the  attractions  of  a  Roman  Catholic  school  which  a  gentleman  named  Poulter 
had  set  up  in  the  same  neighbourhood  under  James's  protection.  This  early 
Nonconformist  Charity  School  was  still  carrying  on  its  work  in  the  original 
school-room  in  the  year  1819,  as  is  shown  by  the  dress  of  its  scholars  in  this 
illustration,  reproduced  from  "Londina  lllustrata." 

Bunyan's  Dream  (frontispiece  to  4th  edition  of  "  Pilgrim's  Progress;'  1680).  .    .     1343 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS  lxxix 


PAGE 

Bahvlonian  Stone  found  in  London  {British  Museum) 1345 

Three  black  diorite  stones,  with  strange  figures  and  letters,  were  found 
early  in  1891  by  workmen  digging  foundations  for  a  house  in  Knightrider 
Street,  London.  These  proved  to  be  Babylonian  stones  ;  one  of  them  dating 
from  c.  1200  or  1300  B.C.,  another  from  c.  4500  B.C.,  and  the  third  from 
c.  4000  B.C.,  The  first  seems  to  have  been  a  boundary  stone,  the  second  had 
been  used  as  part  of  a  holy-water  basin,  and  the  third,  which  is  here  figured, 
had  been  made  to  serve  as  a  door-socket.  It  bears  a  cuneiform  inscription 
which  states  that  it  was  dedicated  to  the  god  Nina.  Knightrider  Street  and 
its  neighbourhood  were  the  favourite  abode  of  Dutch  merchants  in  the  time 
of  Charles  II.  Along  with  the  stones  were  found  some  Dutch  tiles  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  It  has  therefore  been  supposed  that  these  Chaldean 
relics  were  brought,  either  as  ballast  or  as  curiosities,  to  London  with  other 
goods  from  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  Holland  had  a  great  trade,  and  lay  in 
the  Dutch  counting-house  till  the  fire  of  1666,  when  they  and  the  tiles  were 
alike  buried  in  the  ruins. 

Stern  of  the  "Royal  Charles" 1346 

A  part  of  the  stern  of  this  ship,  bearing  the  arms  of  England,  has  been 
preserved  as  a  relic  in  the  Museum  at  Amsterdam,  with  an  inscription  which 
may  be  thus  translated:  "These  arms  adorned  the  'Royal  Charles,'  of  a 
hundred  guns,  the  largest  ship  of  the  English  Navy,  conquered  with  other 
ships  in  the  glorious  expedition  on  the  river  of  Rochester  in  the  year  1667, 
under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Admiral  M.  A.  de  Ruyter  and  the 
Ruwaard"  (an  old  Dutch  word  for  "governor")  "  C.  de  Wit,  brought  into 
the  Meuse  the  same  year,  and  broken  up  at  Hellevoetsluis  in  the  year  167  ;." 
A  contemporary  engraving  of  the  ship  was  made  which  is  in  the  Amsterdam 
Museum,  and  has  been  photographed  specially  for  this  book. 

Fight  between  Monk  and  De  Ruyter,  1666  {from  a  very  rare  contemporary 

Dutch  print,  in  the  British  Museum) 1347 

Facsimile  of  an  Advertisement  in  the  "  Intelligencer,"  April  24,  1666  .    1348 
In  which  Charles  announces  that  he  will  no  longer  touch   for  the   King's 
Evil  for  fear  of  the  infection  of  the  Plague. 

Unfinished  Tapestry-work  saved  from   the   Great   Fire   of    London, 

1666    {Guildhall  Museum) 1 348 

Found  in  a  house  in  Cheapside. 

The   Magazine   at   Sheerness  burnt  by  the  Dutch,   1667    {contemporary 

Dutch  print  in   British  Museum) T349 

The    "Royal   Charles" 1350 

From  a  picture  by  Storch,  in  the  Museum  at  Amsterdam  ;  photographed 
specially  for  this  book.  The  picture  bears  a  Latin  inscription  which, 
literally  translated,  runs  thus:  "The  representation  most  accurately  painted 
of  this,  once  the  British  flagship,  which  stood  as  a  memorial,  first  of  the 
conquered  King  Charles  I.  and  the  royal  army  defeated  at  Naseby  ;  then  of 
the  return  of  King  Charles  II.  to  his  own  realm  (after  whose  name  it  was 
called  the  Royal  Charles)  ;  and  lastly — taken  by  the  Dutch  in  Britain  itself — 
of  a  gigantic  victory  and  also  of  peace  keenly  desired, — is  dedicated  to 
Cornells  de  Witt,  commander  of  the  whole  Belgic  fleet,  and  the  Dutch 
conqueror,  and  to  his  children  after  him  as  an  incitement  to  the  valour  of 
their  father  and  forefather." 

Watch  {South  Kensington  Afitseum) J  35 1 

Of  seventeenth  century  workmanship,  with  an  engraved  brass  face,  and  a 
double  silver  case,  on  the  inside  of  which  are  the  words  "  Edmund  Bull,  Fleet 
Street,  fecit." 

Charles  II.  {miniature  by  Samuel  Cooper,  at  Windsor  Castle) *352 

Nell  Gwynne  {pictwe  by  Lely,  in  the  collection  of  Earl  Spencer,  at  Althorpe)  .    .     1354 


lxxx  NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

James,  Duke   of   Monmouth,  when    a    child  {miniature  by  S.   Cooper,  at 

Windsor  Castle) r355 

Head-piece  to  the  form  of  thanksgiving  for  the  King's  Restoration 

{Book  of  Common  Prayer,  1662) 135^ 

John  Maitland,  Earl  and  Duke  of  Lauderdale  {picture  by   Vandyck,  at 

Ham  House) I358 

James  Butler,  First  Duke  of  Ormond  {from  an  engraving  by  Scriven,  after 

a  picture  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller) 1 360 

Wren's  original  design  for  S.  Paul's  Cathedral 1362 

From  a  drawing,  made  specially  for  this  book,  of  Wren's  model  preserved 
in  the  present  cathedral.  Its  story  is  thus  told  by  Allan  Cunningham  : 
"The  form  of  the  classic  temple  he  [Wren]  imagined  suited  the  reformed 
worship  best,  being  compact  and  simple  without  long  aisles,  our  religion  not 
using  processions  like  that  of  Rome  ;  he  accordingly  planned  a  church  of 
moderate  size,  of  good  proportion  ;  a  convenient  choir  with  a  vestibule  and 
porticos  and  a  dome  conspicuous  above  the  houses.  .  .  .  Much  as  this  plan 
was  approved,  it  was  nevertheless  one  of  those  which  he  sketched  '  merely,' 
as  he  said,  'for  discourse  sake';  he  had  bestowed  his  study  upon  two 
designs  both  of  which  he  liked  ;  though  one  of  them  he  preferred,  and  justly, 
above  the  other.  The  ground  plans  of  both  were  in  the  form  of  the  cross  ; 
that  which  pleased  Charles,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  the  Courtiers,  retained 
the  primitive  figure  with  all  its  sharp  advancing  and  receding  angles  ;  the  one 
after  Wren's  own  heart  substituted  curves  for  these  deep  indentations,  by 
which  one  unbroken  and  beautiful  winding  line  was  obtained  for  the  exterior, 
while  the  interior  accommodation  which  it  afforded,  and  the  elegance  which 
it  introduced,  were  such  as  must  have  struck  every  beholder.  .  .  .  But  if  we 
may  credit  Spence,  taste  had  no  share  in  deciding  the  choice  of  the  design. 
He  says,  on  the  authority  of  Harding,  that  the  Duke  of  York  and  his  party 
influenced  all ;  the  future  king  even  then  contemplated  the  revival  of  the 
Popish  service,  and  desired  to  have  a  cathedral  with  long  aisles  for  the  sake 
of  its  processions.  This  not  only  caused  the  rejection  of  Wren's  favourite 
design,  but  materially  affected  the  other  which  was  approved.  The  side 
oratories  were  proposed  by  the  Duke,  and  though  this  narrowed  the  building 
and  broke  much  in  upon  the  breadth  and  harmony  of  the  interior  elevation, 
and  though  it  was  resisted  by  Wren  even  to  tears,  all  was  in  vain — -the 
architect  was  obliged  to  comply."  (Allan  Cunningham,  "  Lives  of  the  most 
eminent  British  Painters,  Sculptors,  and  Architects,"  iv.  pp.  205-207). 

The  Comte  d'Estrades,  Ambassador  of  France  to  England,  1661 
{Jusserand,  "A  French  Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  Charles  II."  from  an 
engraving  by  Etienne  Picart) 1364 

Dunkirk  {Dutch print,  ijlh  or  18th  century) 1365 

Plenipotentiaries  of  England,  France  and  Holland  signing  the  Treaty 

OF  Breda  {Dutch  print  in  British  Museum)         1368 

Sir   William  Temple  {picture   by  Sir  Peter  Lely,   in  the  National  Portrait 

Gallery) ....     1370 

Hugues   de  Lionne,   Foreign  Secretary  to  Lewis  XIV.  {Jusserand,   "  A 

French  Ambassador,"  from  an  engraving  by  N.  de  Farmessin,  1664)    .    .    .    .     1371 

Two  "  Drumms  and  a  Fife,  and  the  Drumme  Major  "  {Sandford,  "  Funeral 

of  the  Duk:  of  Albemarle,"  1670) 1373 

Funeral  car  of  George  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle  {from  the  same)  .    .    .    1374 

Two  of  "  His  Grace's  Watermen  " -j 

rp„T^  A/r  _  L    {from  the  same) I37<» 

Two  Masters  of  the  Chancery       /  '  JO 

The  University  Library,  Leyden  {from  a  Dutch  engraving,   1610,  after  J. 

C.    Woudanus) 1376 

Fight  with  the  Dutch  in  Solebay,  June  7,   1672    {from  a  contemporary 

Dutch  print,   in  the  British  Museum) 1378 

Barbara  Palmer,  Countess  of  Castlemaine  and  Duchess  of  Cleveland 

{from  an  engraving  by   W.   Sherzuiu,   1670) 1380 


NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATION-  lxxxi 


PAGE 

Huntsmen,  late  17TH  or  early  i8th  century  [Roxburghe  Ballad)    ....     1382 

Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,   first  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  (miniature  by  S. 

Cooper,  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury) l3&4- 

Gresham     House,    afterwards    Gresham    College    {Burgon's    "Life    of 

Grtsham,"  from    Vertue's  engraving,    1739)       1386 

In  Bishopsgate  Street,  London ;  built  by  Sir  Thomas  Gresham,  for  his  own 
residence,  in  1563-6.  At  the  death  of  his  widow,  in  1596,  the  house  and  the 
rents  arising  from  the  Royal  Exchange  both  passed  by  his  will  into  the  hands 
of  the  Corporation  of  London  and  the  Mercers'  Company  as  trustees,  for  the 
endowment  of  a  college.  Seven  professors,  with  a  salary  of  ^50  a  year  each, 
were  to  have  rooms  in  the  house  and  to  deliver  free  lectures,  one  on  every  day 
of  the  week,  on  divinity,  astronomy,  music,  geometry,  law,  medicine,  and 
rhetoric.  The  first  seven  professors  were  appointed  early  in  1597;  three  came 
from  Oxford,  three  from  Cambridge  ;  the  professor  of  music,  Dr.  Bull,  was  a 
graduate  of  both  Universities  and  was  nominated  by  the  queen.  Next  year  it 
was  ordained  that  each  lecture  should  be  delivered  twice  ;  at  8  a.m.  in  Latin, 
because  it  was  thought  "  very  likely  that  diverse  strangers  of  forreign  countries, 
who  resort  to  Gresham  College,  and  understand  not  the  English  tongue,  will 
greatly  desire  to  hear  the  reading  of  the  said  lectures,  whereby  the  memory  of 
the  said  founder  in  the  erecting  of  the  said  college  for  the  encrease  of  learning 
may  be  divulged,  to  the  good  exsample  of  forreign  nations,  and  the  honour  and 
credit  of  this  honourable  city  "  ;  and  at  2  P.M.  in  English.  Dr.  Bull  was  ex- 
cused the  Latin  lecture,  because  he  was  not  a  classical  scholar.  The  meetings 
of  the  Royal  Society  were  held  at  the  College  till  the  Great  Fire  ;  after  that 
the  College  was  used  as  an  Exchange  for  seven  years  (while  a  new  Exchange 
was  being  built),  and  the  Royal  Society  removed  to  Arundel  House  in  the 
Strand;  thence  they  returned  to  the  College  in  1673.  fR  1710  they  bought 
a  house  in  Crane  Court,  Fleet  Street,  which  they  occupied  till  1780,  when 
the  Government  gave  them  rooms  in  Somerset  House  ;  these  were  exchanged 
in  1857  for  apartments  in  Burlington  House,  Piccadilly.  In  1768  the  College 
was  pulled  down,  and  the  lectures  transferred  to  a  room  over  the  Royal 
Exchange  ;  after  the  destruction  of  this  building  in  1838  they  were  given  in 
the  theatre  of  the  City  of  London  School  till  1843,  when  a  new  College  was 
built  in  Gresham  Street.  The  most  remarkable  feature  of  Gresham's  scheme 
was  the  prominence  given  to  astronomy  and  music.  Astronomy  in  his  day 
was  an  almost  unknown  science,  and  neither  of  the  Universities  had  anv 
provision  for  teaching  it.  Sir  Christopher  Wren  held  the  Professorship  of 
Astronomy  for  some  time,  and  gave  lectures  in  Gresham  College. 

The  second  Royal  Exchange  (Burgon,  "  Life  of  Gresham  ") 1387 

The  Exchange  built  by  Gresham  (see  pp.  786,  787)  was  destroyed  in  the  Great 
Fire,  September  1666  ;  the  founder's  statue,  at  the  north-west  corner,  alone 
escaped.  In  April  1667  Jerman,  one  of  the  City  surveyors,  was  commissioned 
by  the  Corporation  and  the  Mercers'  Company  to  make  a  design  for  a  new 
Exchange  ;  the  foundation-stone  was  laid  May  6,  and  on  October  23  Charles 
II.  laid  the  base  of  a  column  on  the  west  side  of  the  north  entrance.  Pepvs 
writes  :  "  Sir  W.  Pen  and  I  back  into  London,  and  there  saw  the  king,  with 
his  kettledrums  and  trumpets,  going  to  the  Exchange  ;  which,  the  gates 
being  shut,  I  could  not  get  in  to  see.  So  with  Sir  YV.  Pen  to  Captain 
Cockes,  and  thence  again  towards  Westminster;  but,  in  my  way,  stopped  at 
the  Exchange  and  got  in,  the  king  being  newly  gone,  and  there  find  the 
bottom  of  the  first  pillar  laid.  And  here  was  a  shed  set  up,  and  hung  with 
tapestry  and  a  canopy  of  state,  and  some  good  victuals  and  wine  for  the  king, 
who  it  seems  did  it."  The  new  building  was  burnt  down  in  1838.  To  the 
last  the  traditional  connexion  between  Gresham  College  and  the  Roval 
Exchange  was  continued,  and  the  Gresham  College  Lectures  were  held  in  it 
from  1768  till  its  own  destruction. 

Interior  of  S.  Stephen's  Church,  Walbrook 1388 

From  a  drawing  made  specially  for  this  book.  The  church,  one  of  Wren's 
masterpieces,  was  built  167 2- 1679. 

Figure  of  S.  Helen,  c.  1680 1389 

In  S.  Helen's  Church,  Bishopsgate  ;  reproduced  from  a  drawing  made 
specially  for  this  book. 


lxxxii  NOTES    ON    THE    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Porch  of  the  Nag's  Head  Inn,  Leicester  {Richardson,  (t Studies  from   Old 

English  Mansions") 1390 

Built  1663. 
Doorway  of  Pearce's  Clothing  Manufactory,  West  Mills,  Newbury    .    1391 

Thomas  Pearce,  clothier,  of  Newbury,  who  died  in  167 1,  endowed  two 
almshouses  at  West  Mills,  for  poor  weavers  "of  honest  life  and  good 
manners."  Part  of  the  buildings  of  his  own  factory  seem  to  have  been 
converted  for  this  purpose.  The  view  here  given  is  from  a  "  History  of 
Newbury"  published  in  1839. 
Inn,  formerly  at  Oxford,  called  "  Antiquity  "  Hall 1392 

This  building  dated  from  1675  at  latest.  The  print  here  reproduced  was 
designed  and  engraved  by  George  Vertue,  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
in  satirical  commemoration  of  a  visit  paid  to  the  inn  by  the  antiquary  Thomas 
Hearne  and  two  of  his  friends,  and  of  the  effect  produced  on  them  by  its 
"mild  ale."  The  reference  to  this  appears  on  the  label  humorously  written 
in  Greek  characters,  /xiASaAe. 
Entrance  to  Arbour  of  the  Shoemakers'  Gif.d,   Shrewsbury    ....     1394 

From  an  original  drawing  kindly  lent  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Hibbert.  Shrewsbury 
contained  a  number  of  trade  gilds,  which  before  the  Reformation  had  been 
wont  to  unite  in  a  splendid  procession  on  Corpus  Christi  day.  After  the 
abolition  of  the  religious  festival,  the  day  was  still  kept  by  them  with  feasting 
and  merry-making  in  the  public  land  called  Kingsland,  outside  the  town.  It 
seems  that  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Corporation  allotted  to 
each  gild  a  small  plot  of  ground  ;  this,  being  hedged  in  and  planted  in  with 
trees,  was  called  an  Arbour.  Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  wooden 
shelters  were  put  up  in  the  arbours,  and  a  little  later  the  gilds  put  up 
bulddings  of  brick.  All  the  arbours  were  fitted  up  inside  with  a  long  table  and 
benches  on  either  side  of  it,  a  raised  chair  under  a  canopy  at  one  end  for  the 
warden  of  the  gild,  and  a  buttery  partitioned  off  at  the  other  end.  The  earliest 
as  well  as  largest  of  these  arbours,  and  also  the  last  surviving,  was  that  of  the 
Shoemakers,  which  is  first  mentioned  in  1637.  The  enclosure  in  which  it  stood 
had  a  gate  of  stone,  erected  in  1679  "by  the  freewill  offerings  of  the  brethren 
and  half  brethren  "  of  the  gild,  aided  by  a  contribution  from  the  general 
fund  ;  the  cost  was  £2%  6s.  yd.  Two  stone  figures  representing  "Crispin 
and  Crispianus," — the  old  patron  saints  of  the  gild — were  placed  above  the 
arch  in  1684. 

Corporation  Badges,  Leicester  {Art  Journal) 1395 

The  larger  of  these  badges  is  now  in  the  Museum  at  Leicester  ;  it  is  the  only 
one  now  left  of  the  ancient  badges  of  the  town-waits,  and  seems  to  date  from 
the  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  century.  In  Canterbury  the  scutcheon  given  to 
each  of  the  four  minstrels  yearly  appointed  was  worth  100/-,  and  was  returned 
at  the  end  of  the  year  to  the  city  chamberlain.  The  smaller  badge  is  that  of 
Edmund  Sutton,  Mayor  of  Leicester  in  1676. 

Thomas  Osborne,  Earl  of  Danby   {Picture  by   Vandyck,  in  possession  of  Mr. 

F.  Vernon  Wentworth)      1396 

Sign  of  the  Bell,  Knightrider  Street,  1668  {Guildhall  Museum)     ....    1398 

Sign  of  the  Boar's  Head,  Eastcheap,  1668  {Guildhall  Museum) 1399 

Sign  of  the  Anchor,  London,  1669  {Guildhall  Museum) 1400 

Sign  of  Abraham  Bartlett,  maker  of  "Boulting  Mills  and  Clothes," 

1678  {Guildhall Museum) 1401 

Princess  Mary  {from  an  etching  by  A.  Mongin,  in  Hemerton's  Poj-tfolio  of  Art, 

from  a  picture  by  Sir  P.   Lely  at  Hampton  Court)  . 1402 

Possibly  represents  her  as  she  appeared  (at  the  age  of  twelve  years)  on 
December  16,  1674,  when  she  and  her  sister  performed  at  Court  in  a  ballet 
entitled  "Callista,  or  the  Chaste  Nymph." 

Four  Illustrations  of  the  Popish  Plot 1404,  1405,  1406,  1407 

From  a  set  of  designs  for  playing  cards  by  W.  Faithorne,  1684  ;  now  in  the 
British  Museum. 

Sword-rest  of  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London 1408 

In  S.  Helen's  Church,  Bishopsgate;  drawn  specially  for  this  book. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
PUR  IT  AX    EXGLAXD 

Section  I. — The  Puritans,  1583— 1603 

\A11thorities. — For  the  primary  facts  of  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  this  time, 
Strype's  "  Annals,"'  and  his  lives  of  Grindal  and  YVhitgift.  Neal's  M  History  of 
the  Puritans,"  besides  its  inaccuracies,  contains  little  for  this  period  which  is 
not  taken  from  the  more  colourless  Strype.  For  the  origin  of  the  Presbyterian 
movement,  see  the  "Discourse  of  the  Troubles  at  Frankfort,  1576/'  often 
republished  ;  for  its  later  contest  with  Elizabeth,  Mr.  Maskell's  u  Martin 
Marprelate,"  which  gives  copious  extracts  from  the  rare  pamphlets  printed 
under  that  name.  Mr.  Hallam's  account  of  the  whole  struggle  ■'"  Constitutional 
History,"  caps.  iv.  and  vii.)  is  admirable  for  its  fulness,  lucidity,  and  impartiality. 
Wallington's  "  Diary  "  gives  us  the  common  life  of  Puritanism  ;  its  higher  side 
is  shown  in  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  Memoirs  of  her  husband,  and  in  the  early  life  of 
Milton,  as  told  in  Mr.  Masson's  biography.] 

No  GREATER  moral  change  ever  passed  over  a  nation  than  The 
passed  over  England  during  the  years  which  parted  the  middle  of 
the  reign  of  Elizabeth  from  the  meeting  of  the  Long  Parliament. 
England  became  the  people  of  a  book,  and  that  book  was  the 
Bible.  It  was  as  yet  the  one  English  book  which  was  familiar 
to  every  Englishman  ;  it  was  read  at  churches  and  read  at  home, 
and  everywhere  its  words,  as  they  fell  on  ears  which  custom  had 
not  deadened,  kindled  a  startling  enthusiasm.  When  Bishop 
Bonner  set  up  the  first  six  Bibles  in  St.  Paul's  iV  many  well- 
disposed  people  used  much  to  resort  to  the  hearing  thereof, 
especially  when  they  could  get  any  that  had  an  audible  voice  to 
read  to  them."  ..."  One  John  Porter  used  sometimes  to  be  occu- 
pied in  that  goodly  exercise,  to  the  edifying  of  himself  as  well  as 
others.  This  Porter  was  a  fresh  voun^  man  and  of  a  bier  stature  ; 
and  great  multitudes  would  resort  thither  to  hear  him,  because  he 

could    read  well  and    had  an  audible  voice."     But    the    "  goodly 
Vol.  Ill— I 


934 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  i       exercise  "  of  readers  such  as  Porter  was  soon   superseded  by  the 
the       continued  recitation  of  both  Old  Testament  and  New  in  the  public 

Puritans  ... 

1583  services  of  the  Church  ;  while  the  small  Geneva  Bibles  carried  the 
1603  Scripture  into  every  home.  The  popularity  of  the  Bible  was 
owing  to  other  causes  besides  that  of  religion.  The  whole  prose 
literature  of  England,  save  the  forgotten  tracts  of  Wyclif,  has 
grown  up  since  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  by  Tyndale  and 
Coverdale.  So  far  as  the  nation  at  large  was  concerned,  no 
history,  no  romance,  hardly  any  poetry,  save  the  little-known  verse 
of  Chaucer,  existed  in  the  English  tongue  when  the  Bible  was 
ordered  to  be  set  up  in  churches.  Sunday  after  Sunday,  day  after 
day,  the  crowds  that  gathered  round  Bonner's  Bibles  in  the  nave 
of  St.  Paul's,  or  the  family  group  that  hung  on  the  words  of  the 
Geneva  Bible  in  the  devotional  exercises  at  home,  were  leavened 
with  a  new  literature.  Legend  and  annal,  war-song  and  psalm, 
State-roll  and  biography,  the  mighty  voices  of  prophets,  the 
parables  of  Evangelists,  stories  of  mission  journeys,  of  perils  by 
the  sea  and  among  the  heathen,  philosophic  arguments,  apocalyptic 
visions,  all  were  flung  broadcast  over  minds  unoccupied  for  the 
most  part  by  any  rival  learning.  The  disclosure  of  the 
stores  of  Greek  literature  had  wrought  the  revolution  of  the 
Renascence.  The  disclosure  of  the  older  mass  of  Hebrew 
literature  wrought  the  revolution  of  the  Reformation.  But  the  one 
revolution  was  far  deeper  and  wider  in  its  effects  than  the  other. 
No  version  could  transfer  to  another  tongue  the  peculiar  charm  of 
language  which  gave  their  value  to  the  authors  of  Greece  and 
Rome.  Classical  letters,  therefore,  remained  in  the  possession  of 
the  learned,  that  is,  of  the  few  ;  and  among  these,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Colet  and  More,  or  of  the  pedants  who  revived  a  Pagan 
worship  in  the  gardens  of  the  Florentine  Academy,  their  direct 
influence  was  purely  intellectual.  But  the  tongue  of  the  Hebrew, 
the  idiom  of  the  Hellenistic  Greek,  lent  themselves  with  a  curious 
felicity  to  the  purposes  of  translation.  As  a  mere  literary 
monument,  the  English  version  of  the  Bible  remains  the  noblest 
example  of  the  English  tongue,  while  its  perpetual  use  made  it 
from  the  instant  of  its  appearance  the  standard  of  our  language. 
For  the  moment  however  its  literary  effect  was  less  than  its  social. 
The  power  of  the  book  over  the  mass  of  Englishmen  showed  itself 


MONUMENT    OF  JOHN    STOWE,    1605,    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    S.    ANDREW    UNDERSHAFT, 

LEADENHALL    STREET,    LONDON. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


937 


in  a  thousand  superficial  ways,  and  in  none  more  conspicuously 
than  in  the  influence  it  exerted  on  ordinary  speech.  It  formed, 
we  must  repeat,  the  whole  literature  which  was  practically 
accessible  to  ordinary  Englishmen  ;  and  when  we  recall  the 
number  of  common  phrases  which  we  owe  to  great  authors,  the 
bits  of  Shakspere,  or  Milton,  or  Dickens,  or  Thackeray,  which 
unconsciously  interweave  themselves  in  our  ordinary  talk,  we 
shall  better  understand  the  strange  mosaic  of  Biblical  words  and 
phrases  which  coloured  English  talk  two  hundred  years  ago.  The 
mass  of  picturesque  allusion  and  illustration  which  we  borrow 
from  a  thousand  books,  our  fathers  were  forced  to  borrow  from 
one ;  and  the  borrowing  was  the  easier  and  the  more  natural 
that  the  range  of  the  Hebrew  literature  fitted  it  for  the  expression 
of  every  phase  of  feeling.  When  Spenser  poured  forth  his 
warmest  love-notes  in  the  "  Epithalamion,"  he  adopted  the  very 
words  of  the  Psalmist,  as  he  bade  the  gates  open  for  the  entrance 
of  his  bride.  When  Cromwell  saw  the  mists  break  over  the  hills 
of  Dunbar,  he  hailed  the  sun-burst  with  the  cry  of  David  :  "  Let 
God  arise,  and  let  his  enemies  be  scattered.  Like  as  the  smoke 
vanisheth,  so  shalt  thou  drive  them  away  !  "  Even  to  common 
minds  this  familiarity  with  grand  poetic  imagery  in  prophet  and 
apocalypse  gave  a  loftiness  and  ardour  of  expression,  that  with  all 
its  tendency  to  exaggeration  and  bombast  we  may  prefer  to  the 
slipshod  vulgarisms  of  to-day. 

But  far  greater  than  its  effect  on  literature  or  social  phrase  was 
the  effect  of  the  Bible  on  the  character  of  the  people  at  large. 
Elizabeth  might  silence  or  tune  the  pulpits  ;  but  it  was  impossible 
for  her  to  silence  or  tune  the  great  preachers  of  justice,  and  mercy, 
and  truth,  who  spoke  from  the  book  which  she  had  again  opened 
for  her  people.  The  whole  moral  effect  which  is  produced  now-a- 
days  by  the  religious  newspaper,  the  tract,  the  essay,  the  lecture, 
the  missionary  report,  the  sermon,  was  then  produced  by  the  Bible 
alone  ;  and  its  effect  in  this  way,  however  dispassionately  we 
examine  it,  was  simply  amazing.  One  dominant  influence  told  on 
human  action  :  and  all  the  activities  that  had  been  called  into  life 
by  the  age  that  was  passing  away  were  seized,  concentrated,  and 
steadied  to  a  definite  aim  by  the  spirit  of  religion.  The  whole 
temper  of  the  nation  felt  the  change.     A  new  conception  of  life 


Sec.  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
1603 


The 
Puritans 


938 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE      chap,  viii 


Sec.  I 

The 

Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 


and  of  man  superseded  the  old.  A  new  moral  and  religious 
impulse  spread  through  every  class.  Literature  reflected  the 
general  tendency  of  the  time  ;  and  the  dumpy  little  quartos  of 
controversy  and  piety,  which  still  crowd  our  older  libraries,  drove 
before  them  the  classical  translations  and  Italian  novelettes  of  the 


C  Eocic  16 pattern  antf  courteous  ictl) not,  oott)  nor 


CM 


ointii  us  fozteyfi)  *j|<rmti3  3ou  fo 3guifor.i3gtre  oj  Qavicmotd    | 


TITLE-PAGE    OF     "COMMONPLACES    OF    CHRISTIAN     RELIGION,"     1563. 


age  of  the  Renascence.  "  Theology  rules  there,"  said  Grotius  of 
England  only  two  years  after  Elizabeth's  death ;  and  when 
Casaubon,  the  last  of  the  great  scholars  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
was  invited  to  England  by  King  James,  he  found  both  King  and 
people  indifferent  to  pure  letters.     "  There  is  a  great  abundance  of 


PREACHING    BEFORE    THE    KING    AND    PRINCE    OF    WALES    AT     PAUL'S     CROSS, 

A.D.     I6l6. 
Picture  belonging  to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries. 


940 


Sec  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


theologians  in  England,"  he  says,  "all  point  their  studies  in  that 
direction."  Even  a  country  gentleman  like  Colonel  Hutchinson 
felt  the  theological  impulse.  "As  soon  as  he  had  improved  his 
natural  understanding  with  the  acquisition  of  learning,  the  first 
studies  he  exercised  himself  in  were  the  principles  of  religion." 
The  whole  nation  became,  in  fact,  a  Church.     The  great  problems 


COLONEL   HUTCHINSON    AND    HIS    SON. 
Picture    by    R.    Walker,   formerly    at    Oivthorpe. 


Puritan- 
ism and 
culture 


of  life  and  death,  whose  questionings  found  no  answer  in  the 
higher  minds  of  Shakspere's  day,  pressed  for  an  answer  not  only 
from  noble  and  scholar  but  from  farmer  and  shopkeeper  in  the  age 
that  followed  him.  We  must  not,  indeed,  picture  the  early  Puritan 
as  a  gloomy  fanatic.  The  religious  movement  had  not  as  yet 
come   into  conflict   with  general   culture.     With  the  close  of  the 


vni  PURITAN    ENGLAND  941 

Elizabethan  age,  indeed,  the  intellectual  freedom  which  had  marked  Sec.  i 
it  faded  insensibly  away  :  the  bold  philosophical  speculations  which  The 
Sidney  had  caught  from   Bruno,  and  which  had  brought  on  Mar-        15S3 

TO 

lowe    and    Ralegh    the    charge    of  atheism,    died,    like    her    own        1603 
religious  indifference,  with  the  Queen.     But  the  lighter  and  more 
elegant  sides  of  the  Elizabethan  culture  harmonized  well  enough 
with  the  temper  of  the  Puritan  gentleman.     The  figure  of  Colonel 
Hutchinson,  one  of  the  Regicides,  stands  out  from  his  wife's  canvas 
with   the  grace  and  tenderness  of  a  portrait  by  Vandyck.      She 
dwells  on   the  personal  beauty  which  distinguished  his  youth,  on 
"his  teeth  even  and  white  as  the  purest  ivory,"  "his  hair  of  brown, 
very  thickset  in  his  youth,  softer  than  the  finest  silk,  curling  with 
loose    great    rings   at   the  ends."      Serious  as   was  his  temper  in 
graver  matters,  the  young  squire  of  Owthorpe  was  fond  of  hawk- 
ing, and  piqued  himself  on  his  skill  in  dancing  and  fence.     His 
artistic  taste  showed  itself  in  a  critical  love  of"  paintings,  sculpture, 
and    all   liberal   arts,"   as  well   as   in   the   pleasure  he  took  in  his 
gardens,  "  in  the  improvement  of  his  grounds,  in  planting  groves 
and  walks  and  forest  trees."     If  he  was  "diligent  in  his  examin- 
ation of  the  Scriptures,"  "  he  had  a  great  love  for  music,  and  often 
diverted  himself  with  a  viol,  on  which  he  played  masterly."      We     Puritan- 
miss,  indeed,  the  passion  of  the  Elizabethan  time,  its  caprice,  its     human 
largeness  of  feeling  and  sympathy,  its  quick  pulse  of  delight  ;  but,     conduct 
on  the   other  hand,  life  gained   in  moral   grandeur,  in  a   sense   of 
the    dignity  of  manhood,  in  orderliness  and  equable  force.     The 
temper  of  the  Puritan  gentleman  was  just,  noble,  and  self-controlled. 
The  larger  geniality  of  the  age  that  had   passed  away  was  replaced 
by  an  intense  tenderness  within  the  narrower  circle  of  the  home. 
"  He  was  as  kind  a  father,"  says  Mrs.  Hutchinson  of  her  husband, 
"  as  dear  a  brother,  as  good  a  master,  as  faithful  a  friend  as  the 
world   had."     The   wilful  and   lawless  passion  of  the  Renascence 
made  way  for  a  manly  purity.     "  Neither  in  youth  nor  riper  years 
could     the    most    fair    or   enticing   woman    ever    draw    him    into 
unnecessary  familiarity  or  dalliance.      Wise  and  virtuous  women 
he   loved,  and   delighted   in  all  pure   and   holy   and  unblameable 
conversation    with   them,    but    so    as    never  to  excite   scandal  or 
temptation.     Scurrilous  discourse  even  among  men  he  abhorred  ; 
and    though    he  sometimes  took    pleasure  in  wit   and    mirth,  yet 


942 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


1583 

TO 
I6O3 


Sec.  i       that    which    was   mixed   with   impurity  he    never    could    endure." 
the        To  the   Puritan  the  wilfulness  of  life,  in   which   the   men   of  the 

Puritans 

Renascence  had  revelled, 
seemed  unworthy  of  life's 
character  and  end.  His 
aim  was  to  attain  self- 
command,  to  be  master  of 
himself,  of  his  thought  and 
speech  and  acts.  A  cer- 
tain gravity  and  reflective- 
ness gave  its  tone  to  the 
lightest  details  of  his  con- 
verse with  the  world  about 
him.  His  temper,  quick 
as  it  might  naturally  be, 
was  kept  under  strict  con- 
trol. In  his  discourse  he 
was  ever  on  his  guard 
against  talkativeness  or 
frivolity,  striving  to  be  de- 
liberate in  speech  and 
"  ranking  the  words  be- 
forehand." His  life  was 
orderly  and  methodical, 
sparing  of  diet  and  of  self- 
indulgence  ;  he  rose  early, 
"  he  never  was  at  any  time 
idle,  and  hated  to  see  any 
one  else  so."  The  new 
sobriety  and  self-restraint 
marked  itself  even  in  his 
change  of  dress.  The  gor- 
geous   colours    and    jewels 


THE    ENGLISH    GENTLEMAN,    1 633. 
Frontispiece  to  Brathwait's  "English  Gentleman." 


of   the    Renascence    disap- 
peared.     Colonel   Hutchin- 
son   "  left    off   very    early    the    wearing    of    anything    that    was 
costly,   yet   in   his   plainest    negligent  habit   appeared  very   much 
a   gentleman."      The    loss    of    colour    and    variety     in    costume 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


943 


reflected  no  doubt  a  certain  loss  of  colour  and  variety  in  life 
itself;  but  it  was  a  loss  compensated  by  solid  gains.  Greatest 
among  these,  perhaps,  was  the 
new  conception  of  social  equal- 
ity. Their  common  calling,  their 
common  brotherhood  in  Christ, 
annihilated  in  the  mind  of  the 
Puritans  that  overpowering  sense 
of  social  distinctions  which 
characterized  the  age  of  Eliza- 
beth. The  meanest  peasant  felt 
himself  ennobled  as  a  child  of 
God.  The  proudest  noble  re- 
cognized a  spiritual  equality  in 
the  poorest  "  saint."  The  great 
social  revolution  of  the  Civil 
Wars  and  the  Protectorate  was 
already  felt  in  the  demeanour 
of  gentlemen  like  Hutchinson. 
"  He  had  a  loving  and  sweet 
courtesy  to  the  poorest,  and 
would  often  employ  many  spare 
hours  with  the  commonest  sol- 
diers and  poorest  labourers." 
"  He  never  disdained  the  mean- 
est nor  flattered  the  greatest." 
But  it  was  felt  even  more  in 
the  new  dignity  and  self- 
respect  with  which  the  con- 
sciousness of  their  "  calling  " 
invested  the  classes  beneath 
the  rank  of  the  gentry.  Take 
such  a  portrait  as  that  which 
Nehemiah  Wallington,  a  turner 
in  Eastcheap,   has    left    us    of    a 

London  housewife,  his  mother.  "  She  was  very  loving,"  he  says, 
"and  obedient  to  her  parents,  loving  and  kind  to  her  husband, 
very  tender-hearted  to  her    children,  loving  all  that   were  godly, 


THE    ENGLISH    GENTLEWOMAN 

I63I. 

Frontispiece    to    Brathwait's 
' '  English  Gentlewoman. ' ' 


Sec.  I 

The 
Plritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 

Puritan- 
ism and 
society 


944 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

The 

Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 


much  misliking  the  wicked  and  profane.  She  was  a  pattern 
of  sobriety  unto  many,  very  seldom  was  seen  abroad  except  at 
church  ;  when  others  recreated  themselves  at  holidays  and  other 
times,  she  would  take  her  needle-work  and  say,  '  here  is  my 
recreation.'  .  .  .  God  had  given  her  a  pregnant  wit  and  an 
excellent  memory.  She  was  very  ripe  and  perfect  in  all  stories  of 
the  Bible,  likewise  in  all  the  stories  of  the  Martyrs,  and  could 
readily  turn  to  them  ;  she  was  also  perfect  and  well  seen  in  the 
English  Chronicles,  and  in  the  descents  of  the  Kings  of  England. 


John 
Milton 


1608 


A    PURITAN    FAMILY. 
"  The  whole  Psalms  in  Four  Parts"  1563. 

She  lived  in  holy  wedlock  with  her  husband  twenty  years,  wanting 
but  four  days." 

The  strength  of  the  religious  movement  lay  rather  among  the 
middle  and  professional  classes  than  among  the  gentry  ;  and  it  is 
in  a  Puritan  of  this  class  that  we  find  the  fullest  and  noblest 
expression  of  the  new  influence  which  was  leavening  the  temper  of 
the  time.  John  Milton  is  not  only  the  highest,  but  the  completest 
type  of  Puritanism.  His  life  is  absolutely  contemporaneous  with 
his  cause.  He  was  born  when  it  began  to  exercise  a  direct  power 
over  English  politics  and  English  religion  ;  he  died  when  its  effort 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


945 


to  mould  them  into  its  own  shape  was  over,  and  when  it  had  again 
sunk  into  one  of  many  influences  to  which  we  owe  our  English 
character.  His  earlier  verse,  the  pamphlets  of  his  riper  years,  the 
epics  of  his  age,  mark  with  a  singular  precision  the  three  great 
stages  in  his  history.  His  youth  shows  us  how  much  of  the  gaiety, 
the  poetic  ease,  the  intellectual  culture  of  the  Renascence  lingered 
in  a  Puritan  home.  Scrivener  and  "  precisian  "  as  his  father  was, 
he  was  a  skilled  musician  ;  and  the  boy  inherited  his  father's  skill 


-    ;.  I 
The 

PCRITANs 

1533 

TO 
I603 


MILTON,     AGED     TEN. 
Picture  by  Cornelius  Janssen,  in  collection  of  Mr.  Edgar  Disney. 


on  lute  and  organ.  One  of  the  finest  outbursts  in  the  scheme  of 
education  which  he  put  forth  at  a  later  time  is  a  passage  in  which 
he  vindicates  the  province  of  music  as  an  agent  in  moral  training. 
His  home,  his  tutor,  his  school  were  all  rigidly  Puritan  ;  but  there 
was  nothing  narrow  or  illiberal  in  his  early  training.  "  My  father," 
he  says,  "  destined  me  while  yet  a  little  boy  to  the  study  of  humane 
letters  ;  which  I  seized  with  such  eagerness  that  from  the  twelfth 
year  of  my  age  I  scarcely  ever  went  from  my  lessons  to  bed  before 
midnight."     But  to   the  Greek,  Latin,  and    Hebrew  he   learnt  at 


946 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

The 

Ptritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 


school,  the  scrivener  advised  him  to  add  Italian  and  French.  Nor 
were  English  letters  neglected.  Spenser  gave  the  earliest  turn  to 
his  poetic  genius.  In  spite  of  the  war  between  playwright  and 
precisian,  a  Puritan  youth  could  still  in  Milton's  days  avow  his  love 
of  the  stage,  "if  Jonson's  learned  sock  be  on,  or  sweetest  Shak- 


ORGAN     POSITIVE. 

Early  Seventeenth  Century. 

South     Kensington     Museum. 

spere,  Fancy's  child,  warble  his  native  woodnotes  wild,"  and  gather 
from  the  "  masques  and  antique  pageantry  "  of  the  court-revel  hints 
for  his  own  "  Comus  "  and  "  Arcades."  Nor  does  any  shadow  of 
the  coming  struggle  with  the  Church  disturb  the  young  scholar's 
reverie,   as    he    wanders   beneath   "the   high   embowed   roof,   with 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  947 

antique  pillars    massy   proof,    and    storied    windows   richly  dight,       Sec.  i 
casting;  a  dim  religious  light,"  or  as  he  hears  "  the  pealing  organ        The 

fa  .  .  r  t>         &  Puritans 

blow  to  the  full-voiced  choir  below,  in  service  high  and  anthem        1583 

TO 

clear.5'  His  enjoyment  of  the  gaiety  of  life  stands  in  bright  1603 
contrast  with  the  gloom  and  sternness  which  strife  and  persecution 
fostered  in  the  later  Puritanism.  In  spite  of  "  a  certain  reservedness 
of  natural  disposition,"  which  shrank  from  "  festivities  and  jests,  in 
which  I  acknowledge  my  faculty  to  be  very  slight,"  the  young 
singer  could  still  enjoy  the  "jest  and  youthful  jollity  "  of  the  world 
around  him,  its  "  quips  and  cranks  and  wanton  wiles  ; "  he  could 
join  the  crew  of  Mirth,  and  look  pleasantly  on  at  the  village  fair, 
"  where  the  jocund  rebecks  sound  to  many  a  youth  and  many  a 
maid,  dancing  in  the  chequered  shade."  But  his  pleasures  were 
"  unreproved."  There  was  nothing  ascetic  in  his  look,  in  his  slender, 
vigorous  frame,  his  face  full  of  a  delicate  yet  serious  beauty,  the 
rich  brown  hair  which  clustered  over  his  brow  ;  and  the  words  we 
have  quoted  show  his  sensitive  enjoyment  of  all  that  was  beautiful. 
But  from  coarse  or  sensual  self-indulgence  the  young  Puritan 
turned  with  disgust  :  "  A  certain  reservedness  of  nature,  an  honest 
haughtiness  and  self-esteem,  kept  me  still  above  those  low  descents 
of  mind."  He  drank  in  an  ideal  chivalry  from  Spenser,  but  his 
religion  and  purity  disdained  the  outer  pledge  on  which  chivalry 
built  up  its  fabric  of  honour.  "  Every  free  and  gentle  spirit,"  said 
Milton,  '  without  that  oath,  ought  to  be  born  a  knight."  It  was 
with  this  temper  that  he  passed  from  his  London  school,  St.  Paul's, 
to  Christ's  College  at  Cambridge,  and  it  was  this  temper  that  he 
preserved  throughout  his  University  career.  He  left  Cambridge, 
as  he  said  afterwards,  "  free  from  all  reproach,  and  approved  by  all 
honest  men,"  with  a  purpose  of  self-dedication  "  to  that  same  lot, 
however  mean  or  high,  towards  which  time  leads  me,  and  the  will 
of  Heaven." 

Even  in  the  still  calm  beauty  of  a  life  such  as  this,  we  catch  the  Cromwell 
sterner  tones  of  the  Puritan  temper.  The  very  height  of  its  aim,  B  and 
the  intensity  of  its  moral  concentration,  brought  with  them  a  loss 
of  the  genial  delight  in  all  that  was  human  which  distinguished  the 
men  of  the  Renascence.  "  If  ever  God  instilled  an  intense  love  of 
moral  beauty  into  the  mind  of  any  man,"  said  Milton,  "  he  has 
instilled  it  into  mine."      "  Love  Virtue,"  closed  his  "  Comus,"  "  she 


948  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


sec.  i       alone   is  free  ! "     But  the  passionate   love  of  virtue  and  of  moral 
the       beautv.  if  it  save  strength  to  human  conduct,  narrowed  human 

Puritans  /  >  fc>  » 

1583       sympathy  and  human  intelligence.      Already  in  Milton  we  note  a 
1603       certain    "  reservedness    of  temper,"    a    contempt    for   "the    false 
estimates  of  the  vulgar, "  a  proud  retirement  from  the  meaner  and 
coarser  life  around  him.     Great  as  was  his  love  for  Shakspere,  we 
can  hardly  fancy  him  delighting  in   Falstaff.      In  minds  of  a  less 
cultured  order,  this  moral  tension  ended,  no  doubt,  in  a  hard  un- 
social sternness   of  life.      The  ordinary  Puritan  "  loved   all   that 
were  godly,  much  misliking  the  wicked  and  profane."     His  bond 
to   other   men    was    not   the    sense    of  a  common  manhood,  but 
the    recognition    of  a   brotherhood    among   the   elect.       Without 
the    pale   of  the  saints  lay  a  world    which  was  hateful  to  them, 
because   it   was    the   enemy   of  their    God.       It    was    this    utter 
isolation  from  the    "  ungodly  "  that    explains  the    contrast  which 
startles   us  between    the    inner  tenderness  of  the    Puritans    and 
the    ruthlessness     of    so     many     of    their     actions.        Cromwell, 
whose  son's  death  (in  his  own  words)  went  to  his  heart  "  like  a 
dagger,    indeed    it    did  ! "    and    who  rode    away  sad  and  wearied 
from   the  triumph  of  Marston  Moor,  burst  into  horse-play  as  he 
signed  the  death-warrant  of  the  King.      A  temper  which  had  thus 
lost  sympathy  with  the  life  of  half  the  world  around  it  could  hardly 
sympathize  with  the  whole  of  its  own  life.       Humour,  the  faculty 
which    above    all    corrects   exaggeration    and    extravagance,    died 
away  before  the  new  stress  and  strain  of  existence.      The  absolute 
devotion  of  the  Puritan  to  a  Supreme  Will  tended  more  and  more 
to  rob  him  of  all   sense  of  measure   and  proportion   in   common 
matters.     Little  things  became  great  things  in  the  glare  of  religious 
zeal ;  and  the    godly    man  learnt  to  shrink  from  a  surplice,  or  a 
mince-pie  at  Christmas,  as  he  shrank  from  impurity  or  a  lie.     Life 
became  hard,  rigid,  colourless,    as  it  became  intense.     The  play, 
the  geniality,  the  delight  of  the  Elizabethan  age  were  exchanged 
for   a    measured    sobriety,  seriousness,  and  self-restraint.     But  the 
self-restraint    and    sobriety   which    marked   the    Calvinist   limited 
itself  wholly  to  his  outer  life.    In  his  inner  soul  sense,  reason,  judge- 
ment, were  too  often  overborne  by  the  terrible  reality  of  invisible 
Cromwell   tmngs-  Our  first  glimpse  of  Oliver  Cromwell  is  as  a  young  country 
b.  1599      squire  and  farmer  in  the  marsh  levels  around  Huntingdon  and  St. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


949 


Ives,  buried  from  time  to  time  in  a  deep  melancholy,  and  haunted 
by  fancies  of  coming  death.  "  I  live  in  Meshac,"  he  writes  to  a 
friend,    "  which   they  say  signifies  Prolonging ;  in    Kedar,    which 


Sec.  I 


The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 

signifies  Darkness  ;  yet  the  Lord  forsaketh  me  not."     The  vivid       1603 


THE    MOTHER    OF    OLIVER    CROMWELL. 
From  a  Picture  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Russell  Astley,  at  Chequers  Court. 


sense  of  a  Divine  Purity  close  to  such  men  made  the  life  of  common 
men  seem  sin.  "  You  know  what  my  manner  of  lffe  has  been," 
Cromwell  adds.  "  Oh,  I  lived  in  and  loved  darkness,  and  hated 
light.     I  hated  godliness."    Yet  his  worst  sin  was  probably  nothing 


Vol.  Ill— 2 


95© 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
1003 

John 
B  uny  an 
b.  1628 


more  than  an  enjoyment  of  the  natural  buoyancy  of  youth,  and  a 
want  of  the  deeper  earnestness  which  comes  with  riper  years.  In 
imaginative  tempers,  like  that  of  Bunyan,  the  struggle  took  a  more 
picturesque  form.  John  Bunyan  was  the  son  of  a  poor  tinker  at 
Elstow  in  Bedfordshire,  and  even  in  childhood  his  fancy  revelled  in 
terrible  visions  of  Heaven  and  Hell.     "  When  I  was  but  a  child  of 


BRASS    OF    HUMPHREY    WILLIS,    d.    l6l< 
Wells  Cathedral. 


nine  or  ten  years  old,"  he  tells  us,  "  these  things  did  so  distress 
my  soul,  that  then  in  the  midst  of  my  merry  sports  and  childish 
vanities,  amidst  my  vain  companions,  I  was  often  much  cast  down 
and  afflicted  in  my  mind  therewith  ;  yet  could  I  not  let  go  my  sins." 
The  sins  he  could  not  let  go  were  a  love  of  hockey  and  of  dancing 
on  the  village  green  ;  for  the  only  real  fault  which  his  bitter  self- 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


accusation  discloses,  that  of  a  habit  of  swearing,  was  put  an  end  to 
at  once  and  for  ever  by  a  rebuke  from  an  old  woman.  His  passion 
for  bell-ringing  clung  to  him  even  after  he  had  broken  from  it  as  a 
"vain  practice  ;"  and  he  would  go  to  the  steeple-house  and  look 
on,  till  the  thought  that  a  bell  might  fall  and  crush  him  in  his  sins 


95i 


Sec.  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 


JOHN     BUNYAN. 
Drawing  by  Robert  White  (British  Museum). 


drove  him  panic-stricken  from  the  door.  A  sermon  against  dancing 
and  games  drew  him  for  a  time  from  these  indulgences  ;  but  the 
temptation  again  overmastered  his  resolve.  "  I  shook  the  sermon 
out  of  my  mind,  and  to  my  old  custom  of  sports  and  gaming  I 
returned  with  great  delight.     But  the  same  day,  as  I  was  in   the 


952 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
1603 


midst  of  a  game  of  cat,  and  having  struck  it  one  blow  from  the 
hole,  just  as  I  was  about  to  strike  it  the  second  time,  a  voice  did 
suddenly  dart  from  heaven  into  my  soul,  which  said,  '  Wilt  thou 
leave  thy  sins  and  go  to  Heaven,  or  have  thy  sins  and  go  to  Hell? ' 
At  this  I  was  put  in  an  exceeding  maze  ;  wherefore,  leaving  my 
cat  upon  the  ground,  I  looked  up  to  heaven  ;  and  was  as  if  I  had 
with  the  eyes  of  my  understanding  seen  the  Lord  Jesus  looking 
down  upon  me,  as  being  very  hotly  displeased  with  me,  and  as  if 
He  did  severely  threaten  me  with  some  grievous  punishment  for 
those  and  other  ungodly  practices." 


A     FAMILY    MEAL. 

Early  Seventeenth  Century. 

Ballad  in   Roxburghe   Collection. 


The 

Presby- 
terians 


Such  was  Puritanism,  and  it  is  of  the  highest  importance  to 
realize  it  thus  in  itself,  in  its  greatness  and  its  littleness,  apart  from 
the  ecclesiastical  system  of  Presbyterianism  with  which  it  is  so 
often  confounded.  As  we  shall  see  in  the  course  of  our  story,  not 
one  of  the  leading  Puritans  of  the  Long  Parliament  was  a  Presby- 
terian. Pym  and  Hampden  had  no  sort  of  objection  to  Episcopacy, 
and  the  adoption  of  the  Presbyterian  system  was  only  forced  on  the 
Puritan  patriots  in  their  later  struggle  by  political  considerations. 
But    the   growth  of  the   movement,    which   thus    influenced    our 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  953 

history    for  a  time,  forms   one   of  the   most    curious    episodes    in       sec.  i 
Elizabeth's    reign.       Her    Church    policy    rested    on    the   Acts   of    „  The 

0  L  J  PURITASS 

Supremacy    and    of   Uniformity ;   the    first    of  which    placed    all       1583 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  and  legislative  power  in  the  hands  of  the       1603 
State,  while  the  second  prescribed  a  course  of  doctrine  and  disci- 
pline, from  which  no  variation  was  legally  permissible.       For  the 
nation  at  large  Elizabeth's  system  was  no. doubt  a  wise  and  healthy 
one.       Single-handed,    unsupported    by    any  of  the  statesmen   or 
divines  about    her,    the  Queen  forced  on  the  warring  religions  a 
sort  of  armed  truce.    The  main  principles  of  the  Reformation  were 
accepted,  but  the  zeal  of  the  ultra-reformers  was  held  at  bay.     The 
Bible  was  left  open,  private  discussion  was  unrestrained,  but  the 
warfare  of  pulpit  against  pulpit  was  silenced  by  the  licensing  of 
preachers.     Outer  conformity,  attendance  at  the  common  prayer, 
was     exacted    from  all  ;    but  the    changes  in  ritual,    by  which  the 
zealots  of  Geneva  gave   prominence  to  the   radical  features  of  the 
religious  change  which  was  passing  over  the  country,  were  steadily 
resisted.      While    England    was    struggling    for    existence,    this 
balanced  attitude  of  the   Crown    reflected    faithfully    enough    the 
balanced    attitude  of  the  nation  ;    but    with    the    declaration    of 
war  by  the   Papacy  in    the  Bull  of  Deposition  the  movement  in 
favour    of   a    more    pronounced    Protestantism    gathered    a    new 
strength.     Unhappily  the  Queen  clung  obstinately  to  her  system  of 
compromise,  weakened  and  broken  as  it  was.      With  the  religious 
enthusiasm  which  was  growing  up  around  her  she  had  no  sympathy 
whatever.     Her  passion  was  for   moderation,  her  aim  was  simply 
civil  order  ;  and   both  order  and   moderation  were  threatened  by 
the  knot  of  clerical    bigots    who    gathered    under   the    banner    of 
Presbyterianism.     Of  these  Thomas  Cartwright  was  the  chief.     He       CarU 
had   studied  at    Geneva  ;    he   returned    with  a    fanatical    faith    in      *T?fT 
Calvinism,  and  in  the  system  of  Church  government  which  Calvin 
had  devised  ;  and  as  Margaret  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Cambridge 
he  used  to  the  full  the  opportunities  which  his  chair  gave  him  of 
propagating  his   opinions.       No  leader  of  a   religious    party  ever 
deserved    less  of  after  sympathy    than   Cartwright.      He  was  un- 
questionably learned  and  devout,  but    his  bigotry  was   that  of  a 
mediaeval    inquisitor.     The   relics  of  the    old  ritual,   the  cross   in 
baptism,   the  surplice,  the  giving  of  a  ring  in  marriage,  were  to 


954 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  i  him  not  merely  distasteful,  as  they  were  to  the  Puritans  at  large, 

The  they  were  idolatrous  and  the  mark  of  the  beast.       His  declamation 

Puritans 

1583  against  ceremonies  and  superstition  however  had  little  weight  with 

TO 

1603  Elizabeth   or  her  Primates  ;  what  scared  them   was  his  reckless 


THOMAS     CARTWRIGHT. 
.9.  Clark,  "  Lives  of  Eminent  Persons. 


advocacy  of  a  scheme  of  ecclesiastical  government  which  placed  the 
State  beneath  the  feet  of  the  Church.  The  absolute  rule  of  bishops, 
indeed,  he  denounced  as  begotten  of  the  devil ;  but  the  absolute 
rule  of  Presbyters  he  held  to  be  established  by  the  word  of  God. 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  955 

For  the  Church  modelled  after  the  fashion  of  Geneva  he  claimed       Sec.  i 
an  authority  which  surpassed  the  wildest  dreams  of  the  masters  of    „  The 

*  L  Puritans 

the  Vatican.    All  spiritual  authority  and  jurisdiction,  the  decreeing        1583 

TO 

of  doctrine,  the  ordering  of  ceremonies,  lay  wholly  in  the  hands  of  1603 
the  ministers  of  the  Church.  To  them  belonged  the  supervision  of 
public  morals.  In  an  ordered  arrangement  of  classes  and  synods 
these  Presbyters  were  to  govern  their  flocks,  to  regulate  their  own 
order,  to  decide  in  matters  of  faith,  to  administer  "  discipline." 
Their  weapon  was  excommunication,  and  they  were  responsible 
for  its  use  to  none  but  Christ.  The  province  of  the  civil  ruler  was 
simply  to  carry  out  the  decisions  of  the  Presbyters,  "  to  see  their 
decrees  executed  and  to  punish  the  contemners  of  them."  The 
spirit  of  Calvinistic  Presbyterianism  excluded  all  toleration  of 
practice  or  belief.  Not  only  was  the  rule  of  ministers  to  be  estab- 
lished as  the  one  legal  form  of  Church  government,  but  all  other 
forms,  Episcopalian  and  Separatist,  were  to  be  ruthlessly  put  down. 
For  heresy  there  was  the  punishment  of  death.  Never  had 
the  doctrine  of  persecution  been  urged  with  such  a  blind  and  reck- 
less ferocity.  "  I  deny,"  wrote  Cartwright,  "  that  upon  repentance 
there  ought  to  follow  any  pardon  of  death.  .  .  .  Heretics  oug"ht  to 
be  put  to  death  now.  If  this  be  bloody  and  extreme,  I  am  content 
to  be  so  counted  with  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Opinions  such  as  these  might  wisely  have  been  left  to  the  good  Hooker 
sense  of  the  people  itself.  Before  many  years  they  found  in  fact  a  I594 
crushing  answer  in  the  "  Ecclesiastical  Polity  "  of  Richard  Hooker, 
a  clergyman  who  had  been  Master  of  the  Temple,  but  whose 
distaste  for  the  controversies  of  its  pulpit  drove  him  from  London 
to  a  Wiltshire  vicarage  at  Boscombe,  which  he  exchanged  at  a 
later  time  for  the  parsonage  of  Bishopsbourne  among  the  quiet 
meadows  of  Kent.  The  largeness  of  temper  which  characterized 
all  the  nobler  minds  of  his  day,  the  philosophic  breadth  which  is 
seen  as  clearly  in  Shakspere  as  in  Bacon,  was  united  in  Hooker 
with  a  grandeur  and  stateliness  of  style,  which  raised  him  to  the 
highest  rank  among  English  prose  writers.  Divine  as  he  was,  his 
spirit  and  method  were  philosophical  rather  than  theological. 
Against  the  ecclesiastical  dogmatism  of  Presbyterian  or  Catholic 
he  set  the  authority  of  reason.  He  abandoned  the- narrow  ground 
of  Scriptural    argument    to  base   his  conclusions   on  the  general 


956 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
1603 


principles  of  moral  and  political  science,  on  the  eternal  obligations 
of  natural  law.  The  Puritan  system  rested  on  the  assumption  that 
an   immutable  rule  for   human   action   in  all  matters  relating  to 


RICHARD     HOOKER. 
Picture  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


religion,  to  worship,  and  to  the  discipline  and  constitution  of  the 
Church,  was  laid  down,  and  only  laid  down,  in  Scripture.  Hooker 
urged   that    a    Divine    order    exists,    not    in    written    revelation 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


957 


only,  but  in  the  moral  relations,  the  historical  developement,  and 
the  social  and  political  institutions  of  men.  He  claimed  for  human 
reason  the  province  of  determining  the  laws  of  this  order  ;  of  dis- 
tinguishing between  what  is  changeable  and  unchangeable  in 
them,  between  what  is  eternal  and  what  is  temporary  in  the  Bible 
itself.  It  was  easy  for  him  to  push  on  to  the  field  of  theological 
controversy  where  men  like  Cartwright  were  fighting  the  battle  of 
Presbyterianism,  to  show  that  no  form  of  Church  government  had 
ever  been  of  indispensable  obligation,  and  that  ritual  observances 
had  in  all  ages  been  left  to  the  discretion  of  churches,  and 
determined  by  the  differences  of  times.  But  the  truth  on  which 
Hooker  based  his  argument  was  of  far  higher  value  than  his  argu- 
ment itself ;  and  the  acknowledgement  of  a  divine  order  in  human 
history,  of  a  divine  law  in  human  reason,  which  found  expression 
in  his  work,  harmonized  with  the  noblest  instincts  of  the  Eliza- 
bethan age.  Against  Presbyterianism,  indeed,  the  appeal  was 
hardly  needed.  Popular  as  the  Presbyterian  system  became  in 
Scotland,  it  never  took  any  general  hold  on  England  ;  it  remained 
to  the  last  a  clerical  rather  than  a  national  creed,  and  even  in  the 
moment  of  its  seeming  triumph  under  the  Commonwealth  it  was 
rejected  by  every  part  of  England  save  London  and  Lancashire, 
and  part  of  Derbyshire.  But  the  bold  challenge  to  the  Govern- 
ment which  was  delivered  by  Cartwright's  party  in  a  daring 
"  Admonition  to  the  Parliament,"  which  demanded  the  establish- 
ment of  government  by  Presbyters,  raised  a  panic  among  English 
statesmen  and  prelates  which  cut  off  all  hopes  of  a  quiet  appeal  to 
reason.  It  is  probable  that,  but  for  the  storm  which  Cartwright 
raised,  the  steady  growth  of  general  discontent  with  the  ceremonial 
usages  he  denounced  would  have  brought  about  their  abolition. 
The  Parliament  of  1571  had  not  only  refused  to  bind  the  clergy  to 
subscription  to  three  articles  on  the  Supremacy,  the  form  of 
Church  government,  and  the  power  of  the  Church  to  ordain  rites 
and  ceremonies,  but  favoured  the  project  of  reforming  the  Liturgy 
by  the  omission  of  the  superstitious  practices.  But  with  the 
appearance  of  the  "  Admonition  "  this  natural  progress  of  opinion 
abruptly  ceased.  The  moderate  statesmen  who  had  pressed  for  a 
change  in  ritual  withdrew  from  union  with  a  party  which  revived 
the  worst  pretensions  of  the  Papacy.     As  dangers  from  without 


Sec.  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 


The  Ad- 
monition 

1592 


958 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE      chap,  viii 


Sec.  i 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I6O3 

The 
Ecclesi- 
astical 
Com- 
mission 


and  from  within  thickened  round  the  Queen  the  growing  Puritanism 
of  the  clergy  stirred  her  wrath  above  measure,  and  she  met  the 
growth  of  "  nonconforming  "  ministers  by  a  measure  which  forms 
the  worst  blot  on  her  reign. 

The  new  powers  which  were  conferred  in   1583  on  the  Eccle- 
siastical Commission  converted  the  religious  truce  into  a  spiritual 
despotism.     From  being  a  temporary  board  which  represented  the 
Royal  Supremacy  in  matters  ecclesiastical,  the  Commission   was 
now  turned  into  a  permanent  body  wielding  the  almost  unlimited 
powers  of  the  Crown.     All  opinions  or  acts  contrary  to  the  Statutes 
of  Supremacy  and  Uniformity  fell  within  its  cognizance.     A  right 
of  deprivation  placed  the  clergy  at  its  mercy.     It  had  power  to 
alter  or  amend    the    statutes    of  colleges    or   schools.     Not    only 
heresy,  and  schism,  and  nonconformity,  but  incest  or  aggravated 
adultery  were  held  to  fall  within  its  scope :  its  means  of  enquiry 
were  left  without  limit,  and  it  might  fine  or  imprison  at  its  will. 
By  the  mere  establishment  of  such  a  Court  half  the  work  of  the 
Reformation  was  undone.     The  large  number  of  civilians  on  the 
board  indeed  seemed  to  furnish  some  security  against  the  excess  of 
ecclesiastical  tyranny.     Of  its  forty-four  commissioners,  however, 
few  actually  took  any  part  in  its  proceedings  ;  and  the  powers  of 
the  Commission  were  practically  left  in  the  hands  of  the  successive 
Primates.     No    Archbishop    of    Canterbury    since    the    days    of 
Augustine  had  wielded  an  authority  so  vast,  so  utterly  despotic,  as 
that  of  Whitgift  and  Bancroft  and  Abbot  and  Laud.     The  most 
terrible  feature  of  their  spiritual  tyranny  was  its  wholly  personal 
character.     The    old    symbols    of    doctrine    were    gone,    and    the 
lawyers  had  not  yet  stepped  in  to  protect  the  clergy  by  defining 
the  exact    limits  of  the  new.     The  result  was  that  at  the  Com- 
mission-board at  Lambeth  the  Primates  created  their  own  tests  of 
doctrine  with  an  utter  indifference  to  those  created  by  law.     In  one 
instance  Parker  deprived  a  vicar  of  his  benefice  for  a  denial  of  the 
verbal    inspiration    of  the    Bible.     Nor   did    the  successive  Arch- 
bishops care  greatly  if  the  test  was  a  varying  or  a  conflicting  one. 
Whitgift  strove  to  force  on  the  Church  the  Calvinistic  supralap- 
sarianism  of  his  Lambeth  Articles.     Bancroft,  who  followed  him, 
was  as  earnest  in  enforcing  his  anti-Calvinistic  dogma  of  the  Divine 
right  of  the  episcopate.      Abbot  had  no  mercy  for  Arminianism. 


ARCHBISHOP    WHITGIFT. 
From  an  Engraving  by  G.  Vertue 


960 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 


Laud  had  none  for  its  opponents.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the 
Ecclesiastical  Commission,  which  these  men  represented,  soon 
stank  in  the  nostrils  of  the  English  clergy.  Its  establishment 
however  marked  the  adoption  of  a  more  resolute  policy  on 
the    part    of    the  Crown,  and    its    efforts    were    backed    by  stern 


ARCHBISHOP    BANCROFT. 
From  an  Engraving  by  G.  Vertue. 


measures  of  repression.  All  preaching  or  reading  in  private 
houses  was  forbidden  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  refusal  of  Parlia- 
ment to  enforce  the  requirement  of  them  by  law,  subscription 
to  the  Three  Articles  was  exacted  from  every  member  of 
the  clergy. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


961 


For  the  moment  these  measures  were  crowned  with  success. 
The  movement  under  Cartwright  was  checked  ;  Cartwright  himself 
was  driven  from  his  Professorship  ;  and  an  outer  uniformity  of 
worship  was  more  and  more  brought  about  by  the  steady  pressure 


Sec.  I 

The 

Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 

Growth 
of  Puri- 
tanism 


ARCHBISHOP    ABBOT. 
From  an  Engraving  by  Simon  Pass. 


of  the  Commission.  The  old  liberty  which  had  been  allowed  in 
London  and  the  other  Protestant  parts  of  the  kingdom  was  no 
longer  permitted  to  exist.  The  leading  Puritan  clergy,  whose 
nonconformity  had  hitherto  been  winked  at,  were  called  upon  to 


962  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  i       submit  to  the  surplice,  and   to    make    the    sign  of   the    cross    in 
}  t^e        baptism.     The    remonstrances    of  the    country  gentry  availed  as 
Ts83NS    little    as    the   protest    of   Lord    Burleigh   himself  to    protect   two 
1603       hundred    of    the    best    ministers    from    being    driven    from    their 
parsonages  on  a  refusal  to  subscribe  to  the  Three  Articles.     But 
the  persecution  only  gave  fresh  life  and  popularity  to  the  doctrines 
which  it  aimed  at  crushing,  by  drawing  together  two  currents  of 
opinion  which  were  in  themselves  perfectly  distinct.     The  Presby- 
terian platform  of  Church  discipline  had  as  yet  been  embraced  by 
the    clergy  only,    and    by  few  among   the  clergy.     On  the  other 
hand,  the  wish  of  the  Puritans  for  a  reform  in  the  Liturgy,  the 
dislike  of  "  superstitious  usages,"  of  the  use  of  the  surplice,  the  sign 
of  the  cross  in  baptism,  the  gift  of  the  ring  in  marriage,  the  posture 
of  kneeling  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  was  shared  by  a  large  number  of 
the  clergy  and  laity  alike.     At  #the  opening  of  Elizabeth's  reign 
almost  all  the  higher    Churchmen  save  Parker  were    opposed    to 
them,  and  a  motion  in  Convocation  for  their  abolition  was  lest  but 
by  a  single  vote.     The  temper  of  the  country  gentlemen  on  this 
subject  was    indicated   by  that  of  Parliament ;  and    it   was    well 
known    that    the    wisest    of    the    Queen's    Councillors,    Burleigh, 
Walsingham,    and    Knollys,  were  at  one  in  this  matter  with  the 
gentry.     If  their  common  persecution  did  not  wholly  succeed  in 
fusing  these  two  sections  of  religious  opinion  into  one,  it  at  any 
rate  gained  for  the  Presbyterians  a  general  sympathy  on  the  part 
of  the  Puritans,  which  raised  them  from  a  clerical  clique  into  a 
popular  party.     Nor  were   the    consequences    of  the    persecution 
The       limited  to  the  strengthening  of  the  Presbyterians.     The  "  Separa- 
e*a         !  tists "  who  were  beginning  to  withdraw  from  attendance  at  public 
worship  on  the  ground  that  the  very  existence  of  a  national  Church 
was    contrary   to    the    Word    of   God,  grew   quickly  from    a    few 
scattered    zealots    to    twenty   thousand    souls.     Presbyterian    and 
Puritan  felt  as  bitter  an  abhorrence  as  Elizabeth  herself   of   the 
"  Brownists,"  as  they  were  nicknamed  after  their  founder  Robert 
1593       Brown.      Parliament,  Puritan  as  it  was,  passed  a  statute  against 
them.     Brown  himself  was  forced  to  fly  to  the  Netherlands,  and  of 
his  followers  many  were   driven    into   exile.     So    great   a    future 
awaited  one  of  these  congregations  that  we  may  pause  to  get  a 
glimpse  of  "a  poor  people"  in  Lincolnshire  and  the  neighbour- 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


963 


hood,  who  "  being   enlightened  by  the  Word  of  God,"  and  their 

members  "  urged  with  the  yoke  of  subscription,"  had  been  led  "  to 

see    further."     They  rejected  ceremonies  as  relics  of  idolatry,  the 

rule    of  bishops    as    unscriptural,  and  joined  themselves,  "  as  the 

Lord's  free  people,"  into  "  a  church  estate  on  the  fellowship  of  the 

Gospel."     Feeling   their   way  forward    to    the    great    principle    of 

liberty  of  conscience,  they  asserted  their  Christian  right  "  to  walk 

in  all  the  ways  which  God  had  made  known  or  should  make  known 

to  them."     Their  meetings  or  "  conventicles  "  soon  drew  down  the 

heavy  hand  of  the  law,  and  the  little  company  resolved  to  seek  a 

refuge    in    other    lands ;    but    their    first    attempt    at    flight    was 

prevented,  and  when  they  made  another,  their  wives  and  children 

were    seized    at  the  very  moment  of  entering  the  ship.     At  last, 

however,  the  magistrates    gave    a    contemptuous    assent    to    their 

project  ;  they  were  in  fact  "  glad  to  be  rid  of  them  at  any  price  ; " 

and  the  fugitives  found  shelter  at  Amsterdam,  from  whence  some 

of  them,  choosing  John  Robinson  as  their  minister,  took  refuge  in 

1609  at  Leyden.     "  They  knew  they  were  pilgrims  and  looked  not 

much  on  these  things,  but  lifted  up  their  eyes  to  Heaven,  their 

dearest  country,  and  quieted  their  spirits."     Among  this  little  band 

of  exiles  were  those  who  were  to  become  famous  at  a  later  time 

as  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  of  the  Mayflower. 

It  was  easy  to  be  "  rid  "  of  the  Brownists  ;  but  the  political 
danger  of  the  course  on  which  the  Crown  had  entered  was  seen  in 
the  rise  of  a  spirit  of  vigorous  opposition,  such  as  had  not  made  its 
appearance  since  the  accession  of  the  Tudors.  The  growing  power 
of  public  opinion  received  a  striking  recognition  in  the  struggle 
which  bears  the  name  of  the  "  Martin  Marprelate  controversy." 
The  Puritans  had  from  the  first  appealed  by  their  pamphlets  from 
the  Crown  to  the  people,  and  Whitgift  bore  witness  to  their  in- 
fluence on  opinion  by  his  efforts  to  gag  the  Press.  The  regulations 
of  the  Star-Chamber  for  this  purpose  are  memorable  as  the  first 
step  in  the  long  struggle  of  government  after  government  to  check 
the  liberty  of  printing.  The  irregular  censorship  which  had  long 
existed  was  now  finally  organized.  Printing  was  restricted  to 
London  and  the  two  Universities,  the  number  of  printers  reduced, 
and  all  candidates  for  licence  to  print  were  placed  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Company  of  Stationers.     Every  publication  too, 


Sec.  I 

The 
Puritans 

I5S3 

TO 
I603 


Martin 
Marpre- 
late 


1585 


964 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap,  viii 


Sec  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 

1588 


great  or  small,  had  to  receive  the  approbation  of  the  Primate  or 
the  Bishop  of  London.  The  first  result  of  this  system  of  repression 
was  the  appearance,  in  the  very  year  of  the  Armada,  of  a  series  of 
anonymous  pamphlets  bearing  the  significant  name  of  "  Martin 
Marprelate,"  and  issued  from  a  secret  press  which  found  refuge 
from  the  royal  pursuivants  in  the  country-houses  of  the  gentry. 
The  press  was  at  last  seized  ;  and  the  suspected  authors  of  these 
scurrilous  libels,  Penry,  a  young  Welshman,  and  a  minister  named 
Udall,  died,  the  one  in  prison,  the  other  on  the  scaffold.      But  the 


AN    ENGLISH    PRINTING    OFFICE,    1619. 
Title-page  of  R.   Pont,   "  De  Sabbaticorum  annorum  periodis  digcstio. 


virulence  and  boldness  of  their  language  produced  a  powerful 
effect,  for  it  was  impossible  under  the  system  of  Elizabeth  to 
"  mar  "  the  bishops-  without  attacking  the  Crown  ;  and  a  new  age 
of  political  liberty  was  felt  to  be  at  hand  when  Martin  Marprelate 
forced  the  political  and  ecclesiastical  measures  of  the  Government 
into  the  arena  of  public  discussion.  The  suppression,  indeed,  of 
these  pamphlets  was  far  from  damping  the  courage  of  the  Presby- 
terians. Cartwright,  who  had  been  appointed  by  Lord  Leicester 
to  the  mastership  of  an  hospital  at  Warwick,  was  bold  enough  to 
organize  his  system  of  Church  discipline  among  the  clergy  of  that 


966 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP; 


Sec.  I 

The 
Puritans 

1583 

TO 
I603 


county  and  of  Northamptonshire.  His  example  was  widely 
followed  ;  and  the  general  gatherings  of  the  whole  ministerial 
body  of  the;clergy,  and  the  smaller  assemblies  for  each  diocese  or 
shire,  which  in  the  Presbyterian  scheme  bore  the  name  of  Synods 
and  Classes,  began  to  be  held  in  many  parts  of  England  for  the 
purposes  of  debate  and  consultation.  The  new  organization  was 
quickly  suppressed  indeed,  but  Cartwright  was  saved  from  the 
banishment  which  Whitgift  demanded  by  a  promise  of  submission  ; 
his  influence  steadily  increased  ;  and  the  struggle,  transferred  to 
the  higher  sphere  of  the  Parliament,  widened  into  the  great  contest 
for  liberty  under  James,  and  the  Civil  War  under  his  successor. 


:t  THE    MAP    OF    MOCKBEGGAR    HALL,    WITH    HIS     SITUATION     IN    THE    SPACIOUS 
COUNTRY    CALLED    ANYWHERE." 

Early  Seventeenth  Century. 
Ballad  in   Roxburghe   Collection. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


967 


Sec.  II 

The  First 
of   THE 

Stuarts 

1604 

TO 
1623 


Section  II. — The  First  of  the  Stuarts,   1604 — 1623 

[Authorities. — Mr.  Gardiner's  "  History  of  England  from  the  Accession  of 
James  I."  is  invaluable  for  its  fairness  and  good  sense,  and  for  the  fresh  inform- 
ation collected  in  it.  We  have  Camden's  "Annals  of  James  I.."  Goodman's 
"Court  of  James  I.,"  Weldon:s  "Secret  History  of  the  Court  of  James  I.," 
Roger  Coke's  "  Detection,"  the  correspondence  in  the  "  Cabala,"  the  letters  in 
the  "  Court  and  Times  of  James  I.,"  the  documents  in  Winwood's  "  Memorials 
of  State,"'  and  the  reported  proceedings  of  the  last  two  Parliaments.  The 
Camden  Society  has  published  the  correspondence  of  James  with  Cecil,  and 
Walter  Yonge's  "  Diary."  The  letters  and  works  of  Bacon  (fully  edited  by  Mr. 
Spedding)  are  necessary  for  a  knowledge  of  the  period.  Hacket's  "  Life  of 
Williams,"  and  Harrington's"  Nugae  Antiquae'' throw  valuable  side-light  on  the 
politics  of  the  time.  But  the  Stuart  system  can  only  be  fairly  studied  in  the 
State-Papers,  calendars  of  which  are  being  published  by  the  Master  of  the 
Rolls.]     [The  State  Papers  are  now  carried  on  to  1644. — Ed.] 


To  judge  fairly  the  attitude  and  policy  of  the  English  Puritans,        The 
that   is  of  three-fourths  of  the    Protestants    of   England,    at    this    Reaction 
moment,  we  must  cursorily  review  the   fortunes  of  Protestantism 
during  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.      At  its  opening  the  success  of  the 
Reformation  seemed  almost  everywhere  secure.      Already  trium- 
phant in  the  north  of  Germany  at  the  peace  of  Augsburg,  it  was 
fast    advancing    to    the    conquest    of  the    south.     The    nobles    of 
Austria   as   well   as    the    nobles  and  the   towns   of  Bavaria   were 
forsaking  the  older  religion.     A   Venetian   ambassador  estimated 
the  German  Catholics  at  little  more  than  one-tenth  of  the  whole 
population  of  Germany.     The  new  faith  was  firmly  established  in 
Scandinavia.     Eastward     the     nobles    of    Hungary    and     Poland 
became  Protestants  in  a  mass.      In  the  west  France  was  yielding 
more  and  more  to  heresy.      Scotland  flung  off  Catholicism  under 
Mary,  and    England   veered   round  again  to  Protestantism  under 
Elizabeth.     Only   where   the    dead  hand   of  Spain    lay   heavy,   in 
Castille,  in  Aragon,  or  in   Italy,  was  the  Reformation  thoroughly 
crushed  out  ;    and  even  the  dead   hand  of  Spain    failed   to  crush 
heresy    in    the    Low    Countries.      But    at   the   very  instant  of  its 


IGNATIUS    DE    LOYOLA. 

Picture  by  Coello,  in  the  House  of  the  Jesuits  at  Madrid. 

Rose,  "S.  Ignatius  de  Loyola." 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND  969 


RST 
THE 


seeming  triumph,  the  advance  of  the  new  religion  was  suddenly      Sec,  ii 

arrested.      The    first    twenty    years    of   Elizabeth's    reign    were    a    TJ=^ 

period    of   suspense.      The    progress    of   Protestantism    gradually     Stuarts 

ceased.       It    wasted  its  strength  in  theological  controversies  and  jo 

.  J623 

persecutions,  and  in  the  bitter  and  venomous  discussions  between        — 

the    Churches    which  followed    Luther   and    the    Churches    which 

followed  Zwingli  or  Calvin.      It  was  degraded  and  weakened  by 

the  prostitution  of  the  Reformation  to  political  ends,  by  the  greed 

and  worthlessness  of  the  German  princes  who  espoused  its   cause, 

by  the  factious  lawlessness  of  the  nobles   in   Poland,  and   of  the 

Huguenots    in    France.       Meanwhile    the     Papacy    succeeded     in 

rallying  the  Catholic    world    round    the    Council    of  Trent.     The 

Roman   Church,  enfeebled  and  corrupted  by  the  triumph  of  ages, 

felt    at    last    the    uses    of   adversity.      Her    faith   was   settled   and 

denned.     The  Papacy  was  owned  afresh  as  the  centre  of  Catholic 

union.       The    enthusiasm    of  the     Protestants    roused    a    counter 

enthusiasm  among  their  opponents  ;  new  religious  orders  rose  to 

meet  the  wants  of  the  day  ;  the  Capuchins  became  the  preachers 

of  Catholicism,  the  Jesuits  became  not  only  its  preachers,  but  its 

directors,    its    schoolmasters,     its    missionaries,    its    diplomatists. 

Their  organization,  their  blind  obedience,  their  real  ability,  their 

fanatical   zeal  galvanized  the  pulpit,  the  school,   the  confessional 

into  a   new   life.       If  the   Protestants  had   enjoyed   the  profitable 

monopoly    of    martyrdom    at    the    opening    of    the    century,    the 

Catholics  won  a  fair  share  of  it  as  soon  as  the  disciples  of  Loyola 

came   to  the   front.     The    tracts    which    pictured    the   tortures    of 

Campian  and  Southwell  roused  much  the  same  fire  at  Toledo  or 

Vienna  as    the    pages    of   Foxe    had    roused    in    England.     Even 

learning    came    to    the    aid    of  the    older    faith.     Bellarmine,    the 

greatest  of  controversialists  at  this  time,  Baronius,  the  most  erudite 

of    Church    historians,    were    both    Catholics.       With    a    growing 

inequality  of   strength   such   as   this,  we   can  hardly  wonder  that 

the  tide  was  seen  at  last  to  turn.     A  few  years  before  the  fight 

with  the    Armada    Catholicism    began    definitely  to    win    ground. 

Southern    Germany,   where  Bavaria    was  restored   to    Rome,    and 

where  the  Austrian  House  so  long  lukewarm  in  the  faith  at  last 

became  zealots  in  its  defence,  was  re-Catholicized.     The  success  of 

Socinianism  in  Poland  severed  that  kingdom  from  any  real  com- 


chap  vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  97 1 


munion  with  the  general  body  of  the  Protestant  Churches  ;    and       Sec.  ii 
these  again  were  more  and  more  divided  into  two  warring  camps    the  first 

&  O  1  OF    the 

by  the  controversies  about  the  Sacrament  and  Free  Will.      Every-     Stuarts 
J  J  1604 

where  the  Jesuits  won  converts,  and  their  peaceful  victories  were         to 

.  1623 

soon  backed  by  the  arms  of  Spain.      In  the  fierce  struggle  which        — 

followed,  Philip  was  undoubtedly  worsted.  England  was  saved  by 
its  defeat  of  the  Armada  ;  the  United  Provinces  of  the  Netherlands 
rose  into  a  great  Protestant  power  through  their  own  dogged 
heroism  and  the  genius  of  William  the  Silent.  France  was  rescued 
from  the  grasp  of  the  Catholic  League,  at  a  moment  when  all  hope 
seemed  gone,  by  the  unconquerable  energy  of  Henry  of  Navarre. 
But  even  in  its  defeat  Catholicism  gained  ground.  In  the  Low 
Countries,  the  Reformation  was  driven  from  the  Walloon  pro- 
vinces, from  Brabant,  and  from  Flanders.  In  France  Henry  the 
Fourth  found  himself  obliged  to  purchase  Paris  by  a  mass  ;  and 
the  conversion  of  the  King  was  followed  by  a  quiet  breaking  up 
of  the  Huguenot  party.  Nobles  and  scholars  alike  forsook 
Protestantism  ;  and  though  the  Reformation  remained  dominant 
south  of  the  Loire,  it  lost  all  hope  of  winning  France  as  a  whole  to 
its  side. 

At  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  therefore,  the  temper  of  every  Puritan- 
earnest  Protestant,  whether  in  England  or  abroad,  was  that  of  a  anci  trle 
man  who,  after  cherishing  the  hope  of  a  crowning  victory,  is  forced  u 

to  look  on  at  a  crushing  and  irremediable  defeat.  The  dream  of  a 
Reformation  of  the  universal  Church  was  utterly  at  an  end.  The 
borders  of  Protestantism  were  narrowing  every  day,  nor  was 
there  a  sign  that  the  triumph  of  the  Papacy  was  arrested.  As 
hope  after  hope  died  into  defeat  and  disaster,  the  mood  of  the 
Puritan  grew  sterner  and  more  intolerant.  What  intensified  the 
dread  was  a  sense  of  defection  and  uncertainty  within  the  pale  of 
the  Church  of  England  itself.  As  a  new  Christendom  fairly 
emerged  from  the  troubled  waters,  the  Renascence  again  made  its 
influence  felt.  Its  voice  was  heard  above  all  in  the  work  of 
Hooker,  and  the  appeal  to  reason  and  to  humanity  which  there 
found  expression  coloured  through  its  results  the  after  history  of 
the    English    Church.      On    the    one    hand    the    historical    feeling 

showed  itself  in  a  longing;  to  ally  the  religion  of  the  present  with   TJie  Hish 

&     &  *  f*  r  Church- 

the  religion   of  the  past,   to  claim   part   in   the  great  heritage   of       men 


972 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  ii      Catholic  tradition.     Men  like  George  Herbert   started   back   from 
rHE  first    the  bare,  intense  spiritualism  of  the  Puritan  to   find   nourishment 

OF    THE  '  ~ 

for  devotion  in  the  outer  associations  which  the  piety  of  ages  had 
grouped  around  it,  in  holy  places  and  holy  things,  in  the  stillness 
of  church  and  altar,  in  the  awful  mystery  of  sacraments.  Men 
like  Laud,  unable  to  find  standing  ground  in  the   purely  personal 


Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


GEORGE     HERBERT. 
Frovi  an  Engraving  by  R.  White. 


The 
Arminia?is 


relation  between  man  and  God  which  formed  the  basis  of 
Calvinism,  fell  back  on  the  consciousness  of  a  living  Christendom, 
which,  torn  and  rent  as  it  seemed,  was  soon  to  resume  its  ancient 
unity.  On  the  other  hand,  the  appeal  which  Hooker  addressed  to 
reason  produced  a  school  of  philosophical  thinkers  whose  timid 
upgrowth  was  almost  lost  in  the  clash  of  warring  creeds  about 
them,  but  who  were  destined — as  the  Latitudinarians  of  later  days 


vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  973 

— to    make    a    deep    impression    on    religious    thought.       As    yet       Sec.  ii 
however  this  rationalizing  movement  limited  itself  to  the  work  of    the  first 

0  OF    THE 

moderating-  and  reconciling  to  recognizing  with  Calixtus  the  pet-      Stuarts 
to  s>  s  s  1  l6o4 

tiness  of  the  points   of  difference  which  parted   Christendom,  and         to 

1  •  •  1  l623 

the    greatness    of    its   points  of   agreement,   or    to   revolting   with         — 

Arminius  from  the  more  extreme  tenets  of  Calvin  and  Calvin's 
followers.  No  men  could  be  more  opposed  in  their  tendencies  to 
one  another  than  the  later  High  Churchmen,  such  as  Laud,  and 
the  later  Latitudinarians,  such  as  Hales.  But  to  the  ordinary 
English  Protestant  both  Latitudinarian  and  High  Churchman 
were  equally  hateful.  To  him  the  struggle  with  the  Papacy  was 
not  one  for  compromise  or  comprehension.  It  was  a  struggle 
between  light  and  darkness,  between  life  and  death.  No  innovation 
in  faith  or  worship  was  of  small  account,  if  it  tended  in  the 
direction  of  Rome.  Ceremonies,  which  in  an  hour  of  triumph 
might  have  been  allowed  as  solaces  to  weak  brethren,  he  looked 
on  as  acts  of  treason  in  this  hour  of  defeat.  The  peril  was  too 
great  to  admit  of  tolerance  or  moderation.  Now  that  falsehood 
was  gaining  ground,  the  only  security  for  truth  was  to  draw  a 
hard  and  fast  line  between  truth  and  falsehood.  There  was  as  yet 
indeed  no  general  demand  for  any  change  in  the  form  of  Church 
government,  or  of  its  relation  to  the  State,  but  for  some  change  in 
the  outer  ritual  of  worship  which  should  correspond  to  the  advance 
which  had  been  made  to  a  more  pronounced  Protestantism.  We 
see  the  Puritan  temper  in  the  Millenary  Petition  (as  it  was  called),  Millenary 
which  was  presented  to  James  the  First  on  his  accession  by  some  l6o, 
eight  hundred  clergymen,  about  a  tenth  of  the  whole  number  in 
his  realm.  It  asked  for  no  change  in  the  government  or  organiza- 
tion of  the  Church,  but  for  a  reform  of  its  courts,  the  removal  of 
superstitious  usages  from  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  the  disuse 
of  lessons  from  the  apocryphal  books  of  Scripture,  a  more  rigorous 
observance  of  Sundays,  and  the  provision  and  training  of  preaching 
ministers.  Even  statesmen  who  had  little  sympathy  with  the 
religious  spirit  about  them  pleaded  for  the  purchase  of  religious 
and  national  union  by  ecclesiastical  reforms.  "  Why,"  asked 
Bacon,  "  should  the  civil  state  be  purged  and  restored  by  good  and 
wholesome  laws  made  every  three  years  in  Parliament  assembled, 
devising  remedies  as  fast  as  time  breedeth  mischief,   and  contrari- 


974  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap,  viii 


Sec.  ii      wise  the  ecclesiastical  state  still  continue  upon  the  dregs  of  time, 
the  first    and  receive  no  alteration  these    forty-five   years    or    more  ? "     A 

OF    THE 

Stuarts  general  expectation,  in  fact,  prevailed  that,  now  the  Queen's  opposi- 
tion was  removed,  something  would  be  done.  But,  different  as  his 
theological  temper  was  from  the  purely  secular  temper  of  Eliza- 
beth, her  successor  was  equally  resolute  against  all  changes  in 
Church  matters. 

The  ]sr     sovereign  could  have  jarred  against  the  conception  of  an 

Divine  to  J  &  r 

Right  of    English   ruler  which   had  grown  up  under  Plantagenet  or  Tudor 


1604 

TO 
1623 


Kings 


more  utterly  than  James  the  First.  His  big  head,  his  slobbering 
tongue,  his  quilted  clothes,  his  rickety  legs,  stood  out  in  as 
grotesque  a  contrast  with  all  that  men  recalled  of  Henry  or 
Elizabeth  as  his  gabble  and  rhodomontade,  his  want  of  personal 
dignity,  his  buffoonery,  his  coarseness  of  speech,  his  pedantry, 
his  contemptible  cowardice.  Under  this  ridiculous  exterior 
however  lay  a  man  of  much  natural  ability,  a  ripe  scholar 
with  a  considerable  fund  of  shrewdness,  of  mother-wit,  and  ready 
repartee.  His  canny  humour  lights  up  the  political  and  theo- 
logical controversies  of  the  time  with  quaint  incisive  phrases, 
with  puns  and  epigrams  and  touches  of  irony,  which  still  retain 
their  savour.  His  reading,  especially  in  theological  matters,  was 
extensive  ;  and  he  was  a  voluminous  author  on  subjects  which 
ranged  from  predestination  to  tobacco.  But  his  shrewdness  and 
learning  only  left  him,  in  the  phrase  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  "the 
wisest  fool  in  Christendom."  He  had  the  temper  of  a  pedant, 
a  pedant's  conceit,  a  pedant's  love  of  theories,  and  a  pedant's 
inability  to  bring  his  theories  into  any  relation  with  actual  facts. 
All  might  have  gone  well  had  he  confined  himself  to  speculations 
about  witchcraft,  about  predestination,  about  the  noxiousness  of 
smoking.  Unhappily  for  England  and  for  his  successor,  he  clung 
yet  more  passionately  to  theories  of  government  which  contained 
within  them  the  seeds  of  a  death-struggle  between  his  people  and 
the  Crown.  Even  before  his  accession  to  the  English  throne,  he 
had  formulated  his  theory  of  rule  in  a  work  on  "  The  True  Law 
of  Free  Monarchy ; "  and  announced  that,  "  although  a  good 
King  will  frame  his  actions  to  be  according  to  law,  yet  he  is  not 
bound  thereto,  but  of  his  own  will  and  for  example-giving  to 
his  subjects."     With  the  Tudor  statesmen  who  used  the   phrase, 


James  I. 

Picture  by  P.  van  Somer,  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


976  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap,  viii 


Sec.  ii      "  an  absolute  King,"  or  "  an  absolute  monarchy,"  meant  a  sovereign 
The  first    or  rule   complete  in   themselves,  and   independent  of    all   foreign 

OF    THE 

Stuarts  or  Papal  interference.  James  chose  to  regard  the  words  as 
implying  the  monarch's  freedom  from  all  control  by  law,  or  from 
responsibility  to  anything  but  his  own  royal  will.  The  King's 
theory  however  was  made  a  system  of  government ;  it  was  soon, 
as  the  Divine  Right  of  Kings,  to  become  a  doctrine  which  bishops 
preached  from  the  pulpit,  and  for  which  brave  men  laid  their 
heads  on  the  block.     The  Church  was  quick  to  adopt  its  sovereign's 

1606  discovery.  Convocation  in  its  book  of  Canons  denounced  as  a 
fatal  error  the  assertion  that  "  all  civil  power,  jurisdiction,  and 
authority  were  first  derived  from  the  people  and  disordered 
multitude,  or  either  is  originally  still  in  them,  or  else  is  deduced 
by  their  consent  naturally  from  them  ;  and  is  not  God's  ordinance 
originally  descending  from  Him  and  depending  upon  Him."  In 
strict  accordance  with  James's  theory,  these  doctors  declared 
sovereignty  in  its  origin  to  be  the  prerogative  of  birthright, 
and  inculcated  passive   obedience  to   the  monarch  as   a   religious 

1608  obligation.  Cowell,  a  civilian,  followed  up  the  discoveries  of 
Convocation  by  an  announcement  that  "  the  King  is  above  the 
law  by  his  absolute  power,"  and  that  "  notwithstanding  his  oath 
he  may  alter  and  suspend  any  particular  law  that  seemeth  hurtful 

1610  to  the  public  estate."  The  book  was  suppressed  on  the  remon- 
strance of  the  House  of  Commons,  but  the  party  of  passive 
obedience  grew  fast.  A  few  years  before  the  death  of  James, 
the  University  of  Oxford  decreed  solemnly  that  "  it  was  in  no 
case  lawful  for  subjects  to  make  use  of  force  against  their  princes, 
or  to  appear  offensively  or  defensively  in  the  field  against  them." 
The  King's  "  arrogant  speeches,"  if  they  roused  resentment  in 
the  Parliaments  to  which  they  were  addressed,  created  by  sheer 
force  of  repetition  a  certain  belief  in  the  arbitrary  power  they 
challenged  for  the  Crown.  We  may  give  one  instance  of  their 
tone  from  a  speech  delivered  in  the  Star-Chamber.  "As  it  is 
atheism  and  blasphemy  to  dispute  what  God  can  do,"  said  James, 
"  so  it  is  presumption  and  a  high  contempt  in  a  subject  to  dispute 
what  a  King  can  do,  or  to  say  that  a  King  cannot  do  this  or  that." 
"  If  the  practice  should  follow  the  positions,"  once  commented  a 
thoughtful  observer  on  words  such  as  these,   "we   are  not    likely 


THE    TWO    HOUSES     OF    CONVOCATION,    1623  — 1624. 
Contemporary  Print  in  British  Museum. 


vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  979 

to  leave   to  our  successors    that    freedom  we   received    from    our       Sec.  ii 
forefathers."  The  First 

OF   THE 

It  is  necessary   to   weigh   throughout    the    course    of    James's 

reign   this  aggressive  attitude  of  the  Crown,  if  we  would  rightly         to 

judge  what  seems  at  first  sight  to  be  an  aggressive  tone  in  some  of 

•  The 

the   proceedings  of   the   Parliaments.     With  new  claims  of  power      Crown 

such   as  these  before   them,  to  have  stood  still  would  have   been    Bishops 

ruin.     The    claim,    too,    was    one    which   jarred    against    all    that 

was  noblest   in   the  temper  of  the  time.     Men   were   everywhere 

reaching    forward    to    the    conception    of     law.      Bacon    sought 

for  law  in    material    nature ;    Hooker    asserted    the    rule    of    law 

over  the  spiritual  world.     The  temper  of  the  Puritan  was  eminently 

a   temper   of    law.     The    diligence  with   which   he    searched    the 

Scriptures  sprang  from  his  earnestness  to  discover  a  Divine  Will 

which    in    all  things,   great  or   small,    he    might    implicitly   obey. 

But    this    implicit    obedience    was    reserved    for   the    Divine    Will 

alone  ;    for  human  ordinances   derived    their   strength    only  from 

their  correspondence  with  the  revealed  law  of  God.     The  Puritan 

was   bound   by  his  very  religion   to   examine  every   claim    made 

on  his  civil  and  spiritual  obedience  by  the  powers  that  be  ;  and  to 

own    or  reject  the  claim,  as    it    accorded    with    the    higher   duty 

which  he  owed  to  God.     "  In  matters  of  faith,"  Mrs.  Hutchinson 

tells    us    of   her   husband,   "  his    reason    always   submitted   to  the 

Word    of    God  ;    but    in  all  other  things  the   greatest  names  in 

the   world  would  not    lead  him    without    reason."     It   was    plain 

that  an  impassable  gulf  parted  such  a  temper  as   this  from   the 

temper   of    unquestioning   devotion    to    the    Crown   which  James 

demanded.     It  was  a  temper  not  only  legal,  but   even   pedantic 

in  its   legality,   intolerant   from   its   very  sense  of   a   moral   order 

and  law  of  the  lawlessness  and  disorder  of  a  personal  tyranny ; 

a  temper  of  criticism,  of  judgement,  and,  if  need  be,  of  stubborn 

and  unconquerable  resistance  ;    of  a  resistance  which  sprang,  not 

from   the   disdain   of   authority,  but   from   the   Puritan's  devotion 

to  an   authority  higher   than    that   of   kings.     But   if    the    theory 

of   a   Divine  Right  of   Kings  was   certain  to  rouse  against  it  all 

the    nobler   energies   of  Puritanism,   there  was   something    which 

roused  its  nobler  and  its   pettier  instincts  of  resistance    alike    in 

the  place  accorded  by  James  to  Bishops.     Elizabeth's  conception 


980  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap 

Sec.  ii      of  her  ecclesiastical  Supremacy  had  been  a  sore  stumbling-block 
The  first    to  her  subjects,  but   Elizabeth    at   least   regarded   the   Supremacy 


OF    THE 


Stuarts  sjmply  as  a  branch  of  her  ordinary  prerogative.  The  theory 
to  of  James,  however,  was  as  different  from  that  of  Elizabeth,  as 
his  view  of  kingship  was  different  from  hers.  It  was  the  outcome 
of  the  bitter  years  of  humiliation  which  he  had  endured  in 
Scotland  in  his  struggle  with  Presbyterianism.  The  Scotch 
presbyters  had  insulted  and  frightened  him  in  the  early  days 
of  his  reign,  and  he  chose  to  confound  Puritanism  with  Presby- 
terianism. No  prejudice,  however,  was  really  required  to  suggest 
his  course.  In  itself  it  was  logical,  and  consistent  with  the 
premisses  from  which  it  started.  If  theologically  his  opinions 
were  Calvinistic,  in  the  ecclesiastical  fabric  of  Calvinism,  in  its 
organization  of  the  Church,  in  its  annual  assemblies,  in  its  public 
discussion  and  criticism  of  acts  of  government  through  the  pulpit, 
he  saw  an  organized  democracy  which  threatened  his  crown. 
The  new  force  which  had  overthrown  episcopacy  in  Scotland 
was  a  force  which  might  overthrow  the  monarchy  itself.  It  was 
the  people  which  in  its  religious  or  its  political  guise  was  the 
assailant  of  both.  And  as  their  foe  was  the  same,  so  James 
argued  with  the  shrewd  short-sightedness  of  his  race,  their  cause 
was  the  same.  "  No  bishop,"  ran  his  famous  adage,  "  no  King  !  " 
Hopes  of  ecclesiastical  change  found  no  echo  in  a  King  who, 
among  all  the  charms  that  England  presented  him,  saw  none 
so  attractive  as  its  ordered  and  obedient  Church,  its  synods  that 
met  at  the  royal  will,  its  courts  that  carried  out  the  royal 
ordinances,  its   bishops  that  held  themselves  to  be  royal  officers. 

Hampton  If  he  accepted  the  Millenary  Petition,  and  summoned  a  conference 
Conference  °^  Pre^ates  and  Puritan  divines  at  Hampton  Court,  he  showed 
1604  no  purpose  of  discussing  the  grievances  alleged.  He  revelled 
in  the  opportunity  for  a  display  of  his  theological  reading  ;  but 
he  viewed  the  Puritan  demands  in  a  purely  political  light.  The 
bishops  declared  that  the  insults  he  showered  on  their  opponents 
were  dictated  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Puritans  still  ventured 
to  dispute  his  infallibility.  James  broke  up  the  conference  with 
a  threat  which  revealed  the  policy  of  the  Crown.  "  I  will  make 
them  conform,''  he  said  of  the  remonstrants,  "  or  I  will  harry  them 
out  of  the  land." 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  981 


It  is  only  by  thoroughly  realizing  the   temper   of   the   nation      Sec.  ii 

on  religious  and  civil  subjects,  and  the  temper  of  the  King,  that    The  f«st 

we  can  understand  the  lon^;  Parliamentary-  conflict  which  occupied     Stuarts 

.  ...  !6o4 

the  whole  of  James's  rei^n.     But  to  make  its  details  intelligible         to 

tt  l623 

we  must    brieflv  review  the    relations    between    the    two    Houses        — 

The 
and  the  Crown.     The  wary   prescience   of    \\  olsey    had    seen    in      Crown 

Parliament,  even  in  its  degradation  under  the  Tudors,  the  apariia! 
memorial  of  an  older  freedom,  and  a  centre  of  national  resistance  ment 
to  the  new  despotism  which  Henry  was  establishing,  should  the 
nation  ever  rouse  itself  to  resist.  Never  perhaps  was  English 
liberty  in  such  deadly  peril  as  when  Wolsey  resolved  on  the 
practical  suppression  of  the  two  Houses.  But  the  bolder  genius 
of  Cromwell  set  aside  the  traditions  of  the  New  Monarchy.  His 
confidence  in  the  power  of  the  Crown  revived  the  Parliament 
as  an  easy  and  manageable  instrument  of  tyranny.  The  old 
forms  of  constitutional  freedom  were  turned  to  the  profit  of 
the  royal  despotism,  and  a  revolution  which  for  the  moment 
left  England  absolutely  at  Henry's  feet  was  wrought  out  by  a 
series  of  parliamentary  statutes.  Throughout  Henry's  reign 
Cromwell's  confidence  was  justified  by  the  spirit  of  slavish 
submission  which  pervaded  the  Houses.  But  the  effect  of  the 
religious  change  for  which  his  measures  made  room  began  to 
be  felt  during  the  minority  of  Edward  the  Sixth  ;  and  the  debates 
and  divisions  on  the  religious  reaction  which  Mary  pressed  on 
the  Parliament  were  many  and  violent.  A  great  step  forward 
was  marked  by  the  effort  of  the  Crown  to  neutralize  by  u  manage- 
ment" an  opposition  which  it  could  no  longer  overawe.  The 
Parliaments  were  packed  with  nominees  of  the  Crown.  Twenty- 
two  new  boroughs  were  created  under  Edward,  fourteen  under 
Mary  ;  some,  indeed,  places  entitled  to  representation  by  their 
wealth  and  population,  but  the  bulk  of  them  small  towns  or 
hamlets  which  lay  wholly  at  the  disposal  of  the  royal  Council. 
Elizabeth  adopted  the  system  of  her  two  predecessors,  both  in 
the  creation  of  boroughs  and  the  recommendation  of  candidates  ; 
but  her  keen  political  instinct  soon  perceived  the  uselessness  of 
both  expedients.  She  fell  back  as  far  as  she  could  on  Wolsey's 
policy  of  practical  abolition,  and  summoned  Parliaments  at  longer 
and  longer  intervals.  By  rigid  economy,  by  a  policy  of  balance 
Vol.  Ill— 4 


THE    COMMONS    PRESENTING    THEIR    SPEAKER    TO    QUEEN    ELIZABETH. 
First  Authentic  Representation  of  the  Opening  of  the  Houses.        . 
R.  Glover,  "  Nobilitas  Politico,  et  Civilis"  1608. 


chap.,  vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  983 

and   peace,   she  strove,   and   for  a  long   time    successfully   strove,  n 

to  avoid   the   necessity  of  assembling;  them   at  all.     But  Mary  of    The  First 

*  °  J  OF   THE 

Scotland  and   Philip  of    Spain   proved  friends   to   English   liberty     *TV*RTS 

in  its  sorest  need.     The  struggle  with  Catholicism  forced  Elizabeth  to 

1623 
to   have  more   frequent   recourse  to   her    Parliament,   and    as    she        — 

was    driven    to    appeal    for    increasing    supplies    the    tone   of   the 
Houses    rose    higher   and   higher.     On    the    question    of    taxation 
or  monopolies   her  fierce  spirit  was   forced   to   give  way  to   their 
demands.     On  the  question  of  religion  she  refused  all  concession, 
and    England    was    driven    to    await    a    change    of    system     from 
her  successor.     But   it  is   clear,  from  the  earlier  acts  of  his  reign,    The  policy 
that  James  was  preparing  for  a  struggle  with  the   Houses  rather 
than   for  a  policy  of  concession.     During   the   Queen's  reign,   the 
power  of  Parliament  had  sprung  mainly  from  the  continuance  of 
the  war,  and  from  the  necessity   under   which  the   Crown   lay  of 
appealing  to  it  for  supplies.     It  is  fair  to  the  war  party  in  Eliza- 
beth's Council   to   remember   that  they  were  fighting,  not   merely 
for  Protestantism  abroad,  but  for  constitutional   liberty  at  home. 
When  Essex  overrode  Burleigh's  counsels  of  peace,  the  old  minister 
pointed  to  the  words    of   the    Bible,   "  a  blood-thirsty   man   shall 
not  live  out  half  his  days."     But  Essex  and  his  friends  had  nobler 
motives  for  their  policy  of  war  than  a  thirst  for  blood  ;   as  James 
had  other  motives  for  his  policy  of  peace  than  a  hatred  of  blood- 
shedding.     The  peace  which  he  hastened  to  conclude  with  Spain 
was  necessary  to  establish  the  security  of  his  throne  by  depriving 
the  Catholics,  who  alone  questioned  his  title,  of  foreign  aid.     With 
the  same  object  of  averting  a  Catholic  rising,  he  relaxed  the  penal 
laws  against  Catholics,  and  released   recusants  from   payment  of 
fines.     But  however  justifiable  such  steps   might  be,   the   sterner 
Protestants  heard    angrily  of   negotiations   with    Spain    and   with 
the  Papacy  which  seemed  to  show  a  withdrawal  from  the  struggle 
with  Catholicism  at  home  and  abroad. 

The  Parliament  of  1604  met  in  another  mood  from  that  of  any   The  Par. 
Parliament  which  had  met  for  a  hundred  years.     Short  as  had  been     of™6oi 
the  time  since  his  accession,  the  temper  of  the   King  had   already 
disclosed  itself;  and  men  were  dwelling  ominously  on  the  claims  of 
absolutism  in  Church  and  State  which  were  constantly  on  his  lips. 
Above  all,  the  hopes  of  religious  concessions  to  which  the  Puritans 


984 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap,  viii 


sec  ii      had  clung  had  been  dashed  to  the  ground  in  the    Hampton  Court 
theFwst    Conference  ;  and  of  the  squires  and  merchants  who  thronged  the 
benches  of  Westminster  three-fourths   were   in  sympathy  Puritan. 
They  listened  with  coldness  and  suspicion  to  the   proposals  of  the 
King  for  the  union  of  England  and   Scotland  under  the  name  of 


OF   THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


UNITE    OF    JAMES    I.,    1604. 
First  Coin  which  bore  the  Legend    "  Great  Britain. 


Apology 
of  the 


Great  Britain.  What  the  House  was  really  set  on  was  religious 
reform.  The  first  step  of  the  Commons  was  to  name  a  committee 
to  frame  bills  for  the  redress  of  the  more  crying  ecclesiastical 
grievances  ;  and  the  rejection  of  the  measures  they  proposed  was 
at  once  followed  by  an  outspoken  address  to  the  King.  The 
Commons  Parliament,  it  said,  had  come  together  in  a  spirit  of  peace  :  "  Our 
desires  were  of  peace  only,  and  our  device  of  unity."  Their  aim 
had  been  to  put  an  end  to  the  long-standing  dissension  among  the 
ministers,  and  to  preserve  uniformity  by  the  abandonment  of  "a. 
few  ceremonies  of  small  importance,"  by  the  redress  of  some 
ecclesiastical  abuses,  and  by  the  establishment  of  an  efficient 
training  for  a  preaching  clergy.  If  they  had  waived  their  right  to 
deal  with  these  matters  during  the  old  age  of  Elizabeth,  they 
asserted  it  now.  "  Let  your  Majesty  be  pleased  to  receive  public 
information  from  your  Commons  in  Parliament,  as  well  of  the 
abuses  in  the  Church,  as  in  the  civil  state  and  government."  The 
claim  of  absolutism  was  met  in  words  which  sound  like  a  prelude 
to  the  Petition  of  Right.  "  Your  Majesty  would  be  misinformed," 
said  the  address,  "  if  any  man  should  deliver  that  the  Kings  of 
England    have  any  absolute  power   in  themselves  either  to  alter 


PRINCE    HENRY    OF    WALES,    ELDEST    SON    OF    JAMES    I. 
Miniature  by  Isaac  Oliver,  in  the  Royal  Collection  at  Windsor  Castle. 


986 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


OF   THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


The  Gun 

powder 
Plot 


Sec.  11  religion,  or  to  make  any  laws  concerning  the  same,  otherwise  than 
the  first  as  in  temporal  causes,  by  consent  of  Parliament."  The  address 
was  met  by  a  petulant  scolding  from  James,  and  the  Houses  were 
adjourned.  The  support  of  the  Crown  emboldened  the  bishops  to 
a  fresh  defiance  of  the  Puritan  pressure.  The  act  of  Elizabeth 
which  sanctioned  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  compelled  ministers  to 
subscribe  only  to  those  which  concerned  the  faith  and  the 
sacraments;  but  the  Convocation  of  1604  by  its  canons  required 
subscription  to  the  articles  touching  rites  and  ceremonies.  The 
new  archbishop,  Bancroft,  added  a  requirement  of  rigid  conformity 
with  the  rubrics  on  the  part  of  all  beneficed  clergymen.  In  the 
following  spring  three  hundred  of  the  Puritan  clergy  were  driven 
from  their  livings  for  a  refusal  to  comply  with  these  demands. 

The  breach  with  the  Puritans  was  followed  by  a  breach  with  the 
Catholics.  The  increase  in  their  numbers  since  the  remission  of 
fines  had  spread  a  general  panic  ;  and  Parliament  had  re-enacted 
the  penal  laws.  A  rumour  of  his  own  conversion  so  angered  the 
King  that  these  were  now  put  in  force  with  even  more  severity 
than  of  old.  The  despair  of  the  Catholics  gave  fresh  life  to  a 
conspiracy  which  had  long  been  ripening.  Hopeless  of  aid  from 
abroad,  or  of  success  in  an  open  rising  at  home,  a  small  knot  of 
desperate  men,  with  Robert  Catesby,  who  had  taken  part  in  the 
rising  of  Essex,  at  their  head,  resolved  to  destroy  at  a  blow  both 
King  and  Parliament.  Barrels  of  powder  were  placed  in  a  cellar 
beneath  the  Parliament  House  ;  and  while  waiting  for  the  fifth  of 
November,  when  the  Parliament  was  summoned  to  meet,  the  plans 
of  the  little  group  widened  into  a  formidable  conspiracy. 
Catholics  of  greater  fortune,  such  as  Sir  Everard  Digby  and 
Francis  Tresham,  were  admitted  to  their  confidence,  and  supplied 
money  for  the  larger  projects  they  designed.  Arms  were  bought 
in  Flanders,  horses  were  held  in  readiness,  a  meeting  of  Catholic 
gentlemen  was  brought  about  under  show  of  a  hunting  party  to 
serve  as  the  beginning  of  a  rising.  The  destruction  of  the  King 
was  to  be  followed  by  the  seizure  of  his  children  and  an  open 
revolt,  in  which  aid  might  be  called  for  from  the  Spaniards  in 
Flanders.  Wonderful  as  was  the  secrecy  with  which  the  plot  was 
concealed,  the  family  affection  of  Tresham  at  the  last  moment  gave 
a    clue   to  it  by  a  letter  to  Lord    Monteagle,  his  relative,  which 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


987 


warned  him  to  absent  himself  from    the  Parliament  on  the  fatal      Sec.  ii 
day  ;  and  further  information  brought  about  the  discovery  of  the    the  Fh 

•'      '  &  ;  OF   TH 

cellar  and  of  Guido  Fawkes,  a  soldier  of  fortune,  who  was  charged 
with  the  custody  of  it.  The  hunting  party  broke  up  in  despair, 
the  conspirators  were  chased  from  county  to  county,  and  either 
killed  or  sent  to  the  block,  and  Garnet,  the  Provincial  of  the 
English  Jesuits,  was  brought  to  trial  and  executed.  He  had 
shrunk  from  all  part  in  the  plot,  but  its  existence  had  been  made 


RST 
E 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 

1623 


Winter 


Cn  r  tffonjjtf      I0J11 
Wright         Wriwt        j-j£ 


THE    GUNPOWDER    PLOTTERS. 
From  Title-page  of  De  Bry's   "  \Varhafftige  Beschreibung  der  Verrdtkerei,"  &c, 

Frankfurt,   1606. 


J/ioma 
Winter 


known  to  him  by  another  Jesuit,  Greenway,  and  horror-stricken  as 
he  represented  himself  to  have  been  he  had  kept  the  secret  and 
left  the  Parliament  to  its  doom. 

Parliament  was  drawn  closer  to  the  King  by  deliverance  from 
a  common  peril,  and  when  the  Houses  met  in  1606  the  Commons 
were  willing  to  vote  a  sum  large  enough  to  pay  the  debt  left  by 
Elizabeth  after  the  war.  But  the  prodigality  of  James  was  fast 
raising  his  peace  expenditure  to  the  level  of  the  war  expenditure  of 
Elizabeth  ;  and  he  was  driven  by  the  needs  of  his  treasury,  and  the 
desire    to    free  himself  from    Parliamentary  control,  to  seek  new- 


James 
and  the 
Parlia- 
ment 


FRONT     OF     HOUSE     OF     SIR     PAUL     PINDAR. 
Built  1600  ;  now  in  South  Kensington  Museum. 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


989 


0^ 


ARMS  OF  THE  LEVANT  OR  TURKEY  COMPANY. 

Incorporated  by  Elizabeth. 

Hazlitt,   "Livery  Companies  of  London." 


sources  of  revenue.     His  first  great  innovation  was  the  imposition 

of  customs  duties.     It  had  long  been  declared  illegaPfor  the  Crown 

to     levy     any     duties     un- 

granted  by  Parliament  save 

those  on  wool,  leather,  and 

tin.      A    duty    on    imports 

indeed    had    been    imposed 

in  one  or  two  instances  by 

Mary,  and  this  impost  had 

been  extended  by  Elizabeth 

to  currants  and  wine  ;    but 

these    instances    were     too 

trivial    and    exceptional    to 

break    in   upon  the  general 

usage.     A  more  dangerous 

precedent  lay  in  the  duties 

which     the     great     trading 

companies,  such  as  those  to  the  Levant  and  to  the  Indies,  exacted 

from  merchants,  in  exchange — as  was  held — for  the  protection  they 

afforded    them    in    far-off  seas.     The  Levant  Company  was  now 

dissolved,  and  James  seized 
on  the  duties  it  had  levied 
as  lapsing  to  the  Crown. 
Parliament  protested  in  vain. 
James  cared  quite  as  much  to 
assert  his  absolute  authority 
as  to  fill  his  treasury.  A 
case  therefore  was  brought 
before  the  Exchequer  Cham- 
ber, and  the  judgement  of  the 
Court  asserted  the  King's 
right  to  levy  what  customs 
duties  he  would  at  his  plea- 
sure. "All  customs,"  said  the 
Judges,  "  are  the  effects  of 
foreign     commerce,     but     all 

affairs  of  commerce  and  treaties  with  foreign  nations  belong  to  the 

King's  absolute  power.    He  therefore,  who  has  power  over  the  cause, 


ARMS   OF  THE  AFRICAN    COMPANY. 

Incorporated  1588. 

Hazlitt,    "  Livery   Companies  of  London." 


Sec.  II 

The  First 
of  THE 
Stuarts 

1604 

TO 
1623 

The  Im- 
positions. 


Bates's 
Case 
1606 


99° 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  ii      has  power  over  the  effect."     The  importance  of  a  decision  which 
The  first    would  go  far  to  free  the  Crown  from  the  necessity  of  resorting  to 

OF    THE  °  J  ° 

Parliament  was  seen  keenly  enough  by  James.  English  commerce 
was  growing  fast,  and  English  merchants  were  fighting  their  way 
to  the  Spice  Islands,  and  establishing  settlements  in  the  dominions 
of  the  Mogul.  The  judgement  gave  James  a  revenue  whicl|  was 
sure  to  grow  rapidly,  and  the  needs  of  his  treasury  forced  him  to 
action.     After  two  years'  hesitation  a  royal  proclamation  imposed 


Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


ORIGINAL    ARMS    OF    THE    EAST    INDIA    COMPANY. 

Incorporated  1600. 

Danvers,   "India  Office  Records." 


a  system  of  customs  duties  on  many  articles  of  export  and  import. 
But  if  the  new  impositions  came  in  fast,  the  royal  debt  grew 
faster.  Every  year  the  expenditure  of  James  reached  a  higher 
level,  and  necessity  forced  on  the  King  a  fresh  assembling  of 
Parliament.  The  "  great  contract  "  drawn  up  by  Cecil,  now  Earl  of 
rod  Salisbury,  proposed  that  James  should  waive  certain  oppressive 
feudal  rights,  such  as  those  of  wardship  and  marriage,  and  the 
right  of  purveyance,  on  condition  that  the  Commons  raised  the 
royal  revenue  by  a  sum  of  two  hundred  thousand  a  year.     The 


The 
Great 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


991 


bargain  failed  however  before  the  distrust  of  the  Commons  :  and 
the  King's  demand  for  a  grant  to  pay  off  the  royal  debt  was  met 
by  a  petition  of  grievances.  They  had  jealously  watched  the  new 
character  given    by  James   to  royal    proclamations,  by  which  he 


11 

The  I 

".  HB 
-.STS 

I6O4 

7  . 
1623 


COURT    OF    WARDS    AND    LIVERIES,    C.    1 588 — 1 598. 
Vetusta  Konumenta  "  ;  from  picture  in  Collection  of  Duke  of  Richmond, 


created  new  offences,  imposed  new  penalties,  and  called  offenders 
before  courts  which  had  no  legal  jurisdiction  over  them.  The 
province  of  the  spiritual  courts  had  been  as  busily  enlarged.  It 
was  in  vain  that  the  judges,  spurred  no  doubt  by  the  old  jealousy 
between    civil     and    ecclesiastical    lawyers,    entertained    appeals 


992 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap,  viii 


sec.  ii      against  the  High  Commission,  and  strove  by  a  series  of  decisions 
The  First    to  set  bounds  to  its  limitless  claims  of  jurisdiction,  or  to  restrict  its 

OF   THE 

Stuarts  powers  of  imprisonment  to  cases  of  schism  and  heresy.  The 
to  judges  were  powerless  against  the  Crown  ;  and  James  was 
vehement  in  his  support  of  courts  which  were  closely  bound 
up  with  his  own  prerogative.  Were  the  treasury  once  full  no 
means  remained  of  redressing  these  evils.  Nor  were  the  Commons 
willing  to  pass  over  silently  the  illegalities  of  the  past  years. 
^,         James  forbade  them  to  enter  on  the  subject  of  the  new  duties,  but 

The         J  J 

Petition    their   remonstrance  was    none  the  less  vigorous.     "  Finding   that 

your  Majesty  without  advice  or  counsel  of 
Parliament  hath  lately  in  time  of  peace  set 
both  greater  impositions  and  more  in  number 
than  any  of  your  noble  ancestors  did  ever 
in  time  of  war,"  they  prayed  "  that  all  im- 
positions set  without  the  assent  of  Parliament 
may  be  quite  abolished  and  taken  away," 
and  that  "  a  law  be  made  to  declare  that 
all  impositions  set  upon  your  people,  their 
goods  or  merchandise,  save  only  by  common 
consent  in  Parliament,  are  and  shall  be  void." 
As  to  Church  grievances  their  demands  were 
in  the  same  spirit.  They  prayed  that  the 
deposed  ministers  might  be  suffered  to  preach, 
and  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  High  Com- 
mission should  be  regulated  by  statute  ;  in 
other  words,  that  ecclesiastical  like  financial 
matters  should  be  taken  out  of  the  sphere 
of  the  prerogative  and  be  owned  as  lying 
henceforth  within  the  cognizance  of  Parlia- 
ment. Whatever  concessions  James  might 
offer  on  other  subjects,  he  would  allow  no 
interference  with  his  ecclesiastical  preroga- 
tive ;  the  Parliament  was  dissolved,  and  three 
years  passed  before  the  financial  straits  of  the  Government 
forced  James  to  face  the  two  houses  again.  But  the  spirit  of 
resistance  was  now  fairly  roused.  Never  had  an  election  stirred  so 
1614       much  popular   passion    as   that    of    1614.     In    every   case   where 


1611 


CRESSET. 

Seventeenth  Century. 

Tower  of  London. 


MONUMENT     OF     RICHARD     HUMBLE     (d.     l6l6),     ALDERMAN     OF     LONDON,     AND     HIS 
FAMILY,    IN    THE    CHURCH    OF    S.    MARY    OYERIE,    SOUTHWARK. 


994 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  ii      rejection  was  possible,  the  court  candidates  were  rejected.     All  the 
the  first    leading  members  of  the  popular  party,  or  as  we  should  now  call  it, 


Stcakts 

1604 

TO 

1623 


the  Opposition,  were  again  returned.  But  three  hundred  of  the 
members  were  wholly  new  men  ;  and  among  these  we  note  for  the 
first  time  the  names  of  two  leaders  in  the  later  struggle  with  the 
Crown.  Yorkshire  returned  Thomas  Wentworth  ;  St.  Germans, 
John  Eliot.     Signs  of  an  unprecedented  excitement  were  seen  in 


THE    BELLMAN    OF    LONDON,    l6l6. 
Title-page  in  Bagford  Collection  {British  Museum). 


the  vehement  cheering  and  hissing  which  for  the  first  time  marked 
the  proceedings  of  the  Commons.  But  the  policy  of  the  Parliament 
was  precisely  the  same  as  that  of  its  predecessors.  It  refused  to 
grant  supplies  till  it  had  considered  public  grievances,  and  it  fixed 
on  the  impositions  and  the  abuses  of  the  Church  as  the  first  to  be 
redressed.  Unluckily  the  inexperience  of  the  bulk  of  the  House 
of  Commons  led  it  into  quarrelling  on  a  point  of  privilege  with 
the   Lords  ;  and   the   King,  who  had  been  frightened  beyond   his 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


995 


wont  at  the  vehemence  of  their  tone  and  language,  seized  on  the 
quarrel  as  a  pretext  for  their  dissolution. 

Four  of  the  leading  members  in  the  dissolved  Parliament  were 
sent  to  the  Tower  ;  and  the  terror  and  resentment  which  it  had 
roused  in  the  King's  mind  were  seen  in  the  obstinacy  with  which 
he  long  persisted  in  governing  without  any  Parliament  at  all.     For 


Sec.  II 

The  First 
of  THE 
Stuarts 

1604 

TO 
1623 

The 
Royal 

Despot- 
ism 

1614-1621 


OLD    TOWN    HALL,    HEREFORD. 
Built   1618 — 1620;   drawn  by  Thomas  Dingley,  temp.  Charles  II.  ;   now  destroyed. 


seven  years  he  carried  out  with  a  blind  recklessness  his  theory  of 
an  absolute  rule,  unfettered  by  any  scruples  as  to  the  past,  or 
any  dread  of  the  future.  All  the  abuses  which  Parliament  after 
Parliament  had  denounced  were  not  only  continued,  but  carried  to 
a  greater  extent  than  before.  The  spiritual  courts  were  encouraged 
in  fresh  encroachments.     Though  the  Crown  lawyers  admitted  the 


996 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 

The  First 
of  THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 

Benevol- 
ences 


The 

Crown 

and  the 

Law 


illegality  of  proclamations  they  were  issued  in  greater  numbers  than 
ever.  Impositions  were  strictly  levied.  But  the  treasury  was  still 
empty  ;  and  a  fatal  necessity  at  last  drove  James  to  a  formal  breach 
of  law.  He  fell  back  on  a  resource  which  even  Wolsey  in  the 
height  of  the  Tudor  power  had  been  forced  to  abandon.  But  the 
letters  from  the  Council  demanding  benevolences  or  gifts  from  the 
richer  landowners  remained  generally  unanswered.  In  the  three 
years  which  followed  the  dissolution  of  16 14  the  strenuous  efforts 
of  the  sheriffs  only  raised  sixty  thousand  pounds,  a  sum  less  than 
two-thirds  of  the  value  of  a  single  subsidy ;  and  although  the 
remonstrances  of  the  western  counties  were  roughly  silenced  by 
the  threats  of  the  Council,  two  counties,  those  of  Hereford  and 
Stafford,  sent  not  a  penny  to  the  last.  In  his  distress  for  money 
James  was  driven  to  expedients  which  widened  the  breach  between 
the  gentry  and  the  Crown.  He  had  refused  to  part  with  the  feudal 
rights  which  came  down  to  him  from  the  Middle  Ages,  such  as  his 
right  to  the  wardship  of  young  heirs  and  the  marriage  of  heiresses, 
and  these  were  steadily  used  as  a  means  of  extortion.  He  degraded 
the  nobility  by  a  shameless  sale  of  peerages.  Of  the  forty-five  lay 
peers  whom  he  added  to  the  Upper  House  during  his  reign,  many 
were  created  by  sheer  bargaining.  A  proclamation  which  forbade 
the  increase  of  houses  in  London  brought  heavy  fines  into  the 
treasury.  By  shifts  such  as  these  James  put  off  from  day  to  day 
the  necessity  for  again  encountering  the  one  body  which  could 
permanently  arrest  his  effort  after  despotic  rule.  But  there  still 
remained  a  body  whose  tradition  was  strong  enough,  not  indeed  to 
arrest,  but  to  check  it.  The  lawyers  had  been  subservient  beyond 
all  other  classes  to  the  Crown.  In  the  narrow  pedantry  with  which 
they  bent  before  isolated  precedents,  without  realizing  the  conditions 
under  which  these  precedents  had  been  framed,  and  to  which  they 
owed  their  very  varying  value,  the  judges  had  supported  James  in 
his  claims.  But  beyond  precedents  even  the  judges  refused  to  go. 
They  had  done  their  best,  in  a  case  that  came  before  them,  to 
restrict  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts  within  legal  and 
definite  bounds  :  and  when  James  asserted  an  inherent  right  in  the 
King  to  be  heard  before  judgement  was  delivered,  whenever  any 
case  affecting  the  prerogative  came  before  his  courts,  they  timidly, 
but  firmly,  repudiated  such  a  right  as  unknown  to  the  law.     James 


DGES    IN    THEIR    ROBES 
Temp.  Elizabeth 
From  MS.  Add.  28330  (British  Museum) 


Till 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


997 


sent  for  them  to  the  Royal  closet,  and  rated  them  like  school-boys,      Se:.  ii 
till  they  fell  on  their  knees,  and,  with  a  single  exception,  pledged    T^  : 
themselves  to  obey  his  will.     The  Chief-Justice,  Sir  Edward  Coke, 


1604 

TO 
1623 


SIR     EDWARD     COKE. 
From  an  Engraving  by  David  Loggan. 


a  narrow-minded  and  bitter-tempered  man,  but  of  the  highest 
eminence  as  a  lawyer,  and  with  a  reverence  for  the  law  that  over- 
rode every  other  instinct,  alone  remained  firm.     When  any  case 

came  before  him,  he  answered,  he  would  act  as  it  became  a  judge 
Vol.  Ill— 5 


998 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 

The  First 
of  THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

to 
1623 

Dismissal 

of  Coke 

1616 


T>r\  h&JoA- 


T 


The  Court 


to  act.      Coke  was  at  once   dismissed   from   the   Council,  and  a 
provision    which    made  the  judicial  office  tenable  at  the   King's 

pleasure,  but    which 
had  long  fallen  into 
disuse,    was    revived 
to  humble  the  com- 
mon law  in  the  per- 
son     of      its      chief 
officer ;   on   the  con- 
tinuance  of    his    re- 
sistance he  was  de- 
prived of  his  post  of 
Chief  -  Justice.       No 
act  of  James  seems 
to     have     stirred     a 
deeper      resentment 
among     Englishmen 
than  this  announce- 
ment  of  his  will  to 
tamper      with      the 
course  of  justice.     It 
was    an    outrage    on 
the  growing  sense  of 
law,    as    the     profu- 
sion   and    profligacy 
of    the    court    were 
an    outrage    on    the 
growing      sense      of 
morality.     The  trea- 
sury was  drained  to 
furnish  masques  and 
revels  on  a  scale  of 
unexampled     splen- 
dour.      Lands     and 
jewels  were  lavished 
on      young      adven- 
turers, whose  fair  faces  caught  the  royal  fancy.     If  the  court  of 
Elizabeth  was  as  immoral  as  that  of  her  successor,  its  immorality 


"KNIPERDOLING." 

Court  Satire   on   an  Anabaptist,  sketched  by  Inigo  Jones  for  a 
Masque. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


999 


had  been  shrouded  by  a  veil  of  grace  and  chivalry.  But  no 
veil  hid  the  degrading  grossness  of  the  court  of  James.  The 
King  was  held,  though  unjustly,  to  be  a  drunkard.  Actors  in  a 
masque  performed   at  court  were  seen   rolling  intoxicated  at  his 


Sec.  II 

The  First 
of  THE 
Stuarts 

1604 

TO 
1623 


FIGURES    DESIGNED    BY    INIGO    JONES    FOR    THE    MASQUE    OF 

ISLES." 


THE    FORTUNATE 


feet.  A  scandalous  trial  showed  great  nobles  and  officers  of 
state  in  league  with  cheats  and  astrologers  and  poisoners.  James 
himself  had  not  shrunk  from  meddling  busily  in  the  divorce  of 
Lady  Essex  ;  and  her  subsequent  bridal  with  one  of  his  favourites 


IOOO 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


•£V 


Sec.  ii      was    celebrated    in    his   presence.      Before    scenes    such    as  these, 
The  first   the  half-idolatrous  reverence  with  which   the  sovereign  had  been 

OF   THE  ° 

Stuarts     regarded    throughout  the  period   of  the  Tudors   died   away  into 
1604 
to        abhorrence   and    contempt.      The  players  openly  mocked   at  the 

—        King   on    the  stage.      Mrs.  Hutchinson  denounced   the  orgies  of 

Whitehall  in  words 
as  fiery  as  those 
with  which  Elijah 
denounced  the  sen- 
suality of  Jezebel. 
But  the  immorality 
of  James's  court  was 
hardly  more  despic- 
able than  the  folly 
of  his  government. 
In  the  silence  of 
Parliament,  the  royal 
Council,  composed  as 
it  was  not  merely 
of  the  ministers,  but 
of  the  higher  nobles 
and  hereditary  offi- 
cers of  state,  had 
served  even  under  a 
despot  like  Henry 
the  Eighth  as  a 
check  upon  the  ar- 
bitrary will  of  the 
sovereign.  But  after 
the  death  of  Lord 
Burl  eigh's  son, 
Robert  Cecil,  the 
minister  whom 
Elizabeth  had  bequeathed  to  him,  and  whose  services  in  pro- 
curing his  accession  were  rewarded  by  the  Earldom  of  Salis- 
bury, all  real  control  over  affairs  was  withdrawn  by  James 
from  the  Council,  and  entrusted  to  worthless  favourites  whom 
the  King    chose   to   raise    to    honour.      A    Scotch    page    named 


"CADE." 

Satire  on  Popular  Leaders,  sketched  by  Inigo  Jones  for  a 
Court  Masque. 


The 
Favourites 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


IOOI 


Carr  was    created  Viscount  Rochester  and  Earl  of  Somerset,  and  Sec.  ii 

married   after  her  divorce   to    Lady    Essex.       Supreme    in   State  The  First 

*                                                     *•  OF   THE 

affairs,  domestic  and  foreign,  he  was  at  last  hurled  from  favour  Stuarts 

.             .  J6o4 

and    power   on    the    charge  of  a  horrible    crime,    the    murder   of  to 

Sir  Thomas  Overbury  by  poison,  of  which  he  and  his  Countess  — 


ROBERT    CARR    AND    FRANCES    HOWARD,    EARL    AND    COUNTESS    OF    SOMERSET. 
Contemporary  Print  in  British  Museum. 


were  convicted  of  being  the  instigators.  Another  favourite  was 
already  prepared  to  take  his  place.  George  Villiers,  a  hand- 
some young  adventurer,  was  raised  rapidly  through  every  rank 
of  the  peerage,  made  Marquis  and  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and 
entrusted   with  the   appointment   to   high   offices  of  state.      The 


1002 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 
The  First 

of  THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


The 

Spanish 

Policy 


1612 


1617 


payment  of  bribes  to  him,  or  marriage  with  his  greedy  relatives, 
became  the  one  road  to  political  preferment.  Resistance  to  his 
will  was  inevitably  followed  by  dismissal  from  office.  Even  the 
highest  and  most  powerful  of  the  nobles  were  made  to  tremble 
at  the  nod  of  this  young  upstart.  "  Never  any  man  in  any  age, 
nor,  I  believe,  in  any  country,"  says  the  astonished  Clarendon, 
"  rose  in  so  short  a  time  to  so  much  greatness  of  honour,  power, 
or  fortune,  upon  no  other  advantage  or  recommendation  than  of 
the  beauty  or  gracefulness  of  his  person."  Buckingham  indeed 
had  no  inconsiderable  abilities,  but  his  self-confidence  and  reck- 
lessness were  equal  to  his  beauty ;  and  the  haughty  young 
favourite  on  whose  neck  James  loved  to  loll,  and  whose  cheek  he 
slobbered  with  kisses,  was  destined  to  drag  down  in  his  fatal 
career  the  throne  of  the   Stuarts. 

The  new  system  was  even  more  disastrous  in  its  results  abroad 
than  at  home.  The  withdrawal  of  power  from  the  Council  left 
James  in  effect  his  own  chief  minister,  and  master  of  the  control 
of  affairs  as  no  English  sovereign  had  been  before  him.  At  his 
accession  he  found  the  direction  of  foreign  affairs  in  the  hands  of 
Salisbury,  and  so  long  as  Salisbury  lived  the  Elizabethan  policy 
was  in  the  main  adhered  to.  Peace,  indeed,  was  made  with  Spain  ; 
but  a  close  alliance  with  the  United  Provinces,  and  a  more  guarded 
alliance  with  France,  held  the  ambition  of  Spain  in  check  almost 
as  effectually  as  war.  When  danger  grew  threatening  in  Germany 
from  the  Catholic  zeal  of  the  House  of  Austria,  the  marriage  of  the 
King's  daughter,  Elizabeth,  with  the  heir  of  the  Elector-Palatine 
promised  English  support  to  its  Protestant  powers.  But  the  death 
of  Salisbury,  and  the  dissolution  of  the  Parliament  of  161 4,  were 
quickly  followed  by  a  disastrous  change.  James  at  once  proceeded 
to  undo  all  that  the  struggle  of  Elizabeth  and  the  triumph  of  the 
Armada  had  done.  His  quick,  shallow  intelligence  held  that  in  a 
joint  action  with  Spain  it  had  found  a  way  by  which  the  Crown 
might  at  once  exert  weight  abroad,  and  be  rendered  independent 
of  the  nation  at  home.  A  series  of  negotiations  was  begun  for  the 
marriage  of  his  son  with  a  Princess  of  Spain.  Each  of  his 
successive  favourites  supported  the  Spanish  alliance  ;  and  after 
years  of  secret  intrigue  the  King's  intentions  were  proclaimed  to 
the  world,  at  the  moment  when  the  policy  of  the  House  of  Austria 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1003 


threatened  the  Protestants  of  Southern  Germany  with  utter  ruin  or      Sec.  ii 
-civil  war.    From  whatever  quarter  the  first  aggression  should  come,    the  first 

*  °°  OF    THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


ROBERT      CECIL,      EARL      OF      SALISBURY, 
From  an  Engraving  by  Elstrak. 


It  was  plain  that    a   second  great  struggle  in  arms  between  Pro- 
testantism and  Catholicism  was  to  be  fought  out  on   German   soil. 


ioo4 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  ii      It  was  their  prescience  of  the  coming  conflict  which,  on  the  very  eve 
The  first    of  the  crisis,  spurred  a  party  among  his  ministers  who  still  clung  to 
the  traditions  of  Salisbury  to  support  an  enterprise  which  promised 
to  detach  the  King  from  his  new  policy  by  entangling  him  in  a 


OF  THE 

Stuarts 


1604 

TO 
1623 


Ralegh's 
death 


war  with  Spain.     Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  the  one  great  warrior  of  the 
Elizabethan  time  who  still  lingered  on,  had  been  imprisoned  ever 


GERMAN    CROSS-BOW,    C.    l60O. 
Tower  of  London. 


since  the  beginning  of  the  new  reign  in  the  Tower  on  a  charge  of 
treason.  He  now  disclosed  to  James  his  knowledge  of  a  gold- 
mine on  the  Orinoco,  and  prayed  that  he  might  sail  thither  and 
work  its  treasures  for  the  King.  The  King  was  tempted  by  the 
bait  of  gold  ;  but  he  forbade  any  attack  on  Spanish  territory,  or 
the  shedding  of  Spanish  blood.     Ralegh  however  had  risked  his 


ARBALEST,    C.    I6OO. 
Tower  of  London. 


head  again  and  again,  he  believed  in  the  tale  he  told,  and  he  knew 
that  if  war  could  be  brought  about  between  England  and  Spain  a 
new  career  was  open  to  him.  He  found  the  coast  occupied  by 
Spanish  troops  ;  evading  direct  orders  to  attack  he  sent  his  men 
up  the  country,  where  they  plundered  a  Spanish  town,  found  no 
gold-mine,  and  came  broken  and  defeated  back.     The  daring  of 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1005 


the  man  saw  a  fresh  resource  ;  he  proposed  to  seize  the  Spanish  Sec.  ii 
treasure  ships  as  he  returned,  and,  like  Drake,  to  turn  the  heads  the  first 
of  nation  and  King  by  the  immense  spoil.  But  his  men  would  not 
follow  him,  and  he  was  brought  home  to  face  his  doom.  James  at 
once  put  his  old  sentence  in  force  ;  and  the  death  of  the  broken- 
hearted adventurer  on  the  scaffold  atoned  for  the  affront  to  Spain. 
The  failure  of  Ralegh  came  at  a  critical  moment  in  German 
history.  The  religious  truce  which  had  so  long  preserved  the 
peace  of  Germany  was  broken  in   161 8  by  the  revolt  of  Bohemia 


OF    THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 

I6l8 


CANNON. 
MS.  Cotton  Julius  F.  z'v.,  a.d.  1608. 


against  the  rule  of  the  Catholic  House  of  Austria  ;  and  when  the 
death  of  the  Emperor  Matthias  raised  his  cousin  Ferdinand  in 
1619  to  the  Empire  and  to  the  throne  of  Bohemia,  its  nobles 
declared  the  realm  vacant  and  chose  Frederick,  the  young  Elector 
Palatine,  as  their  King.  The  German  Protestants  were  divided  by 
the  fatal  jealousy  between  their  Lutheran  and  Calvinist  princes  ; 
but  it  was  believed  that  Frederick's  election  could  unite  them,  and 
the  Bohemians  counted  on  England's  support  when  they  chose 
James's  son-in-law  for  their  king.     A  firm  policy  would  at  any  rate 


The 
Th  irty 
Years' 

War 


ioo6 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 

The  First 
of  THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


have  held  Spain  inactive,  and  limited  the  contest  to  Germany 
itself.  But  the  "statecraft"  on  which  James  prided  himself  led 
him  to  count,  not  on  Spanish  fear,  but  on  Spanish  friendship.  Hs 
refused  aid  to  the  Protestant  Union  of  the  German  Princes  when 
they  espoused  the  cause  of  Bohemia,  and  threatened  war  against 
Holland,  the  one  power  which  was  earnest  in  the  Palatine's  cause. 
It  was  in  vain  that  both  court  and  people  were  unanimous  in  their 


PIKEMAN. 

Temp.    James    I. 

Broadside  {Society  of  Antiquaries). 


cry  for  war.  James  still  pressed  his  son-in-law  to  withdraw  from 
Bohemia,  and  relied  in  such  a  case  on  the  joint  efforts  of  England 
and  Spain  to  restore  peace.  But  Frederick  refused  consent,  and 
Spain  quickly  threw  aside  the  mask.  Her  famous  battalions  were 
soon  moving  up  the  Rhine  to  the  aid  of  the  Emperor  ;  and  their 
march  turned  the  local  struggle  in  Bohemia  into  a  European  war. 
Nov.  1620  While  the   Spaniards  occupied  the   Palatinate,  the  army   of  the 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


IOC 


'Catholic  League  under  Maximilian  of  Bavaria  marched   down  the      5k.  n 
Danube,  reduced  Austria  to  submission,  and   forced  Frederick  to    The 
battle  before  the  walls  of  Prague.     Before  the  day  was  over  he  was 
galloping  off,  a  fugitive,  to  North  Germany,  to  find  the  Spaniards 
■encamped  as  its  masters  in  the  heart  of  the  Palatinate. 


or  THE 

1604 

TO 
1623 


James  had  been  duped,  and  for  the  moment  he  bent  before  the   The  Par- 
J  r  hament 

burst  of  popular  fury  which  the  danger  to  German  Protestantism     of  1621 


MUSKETEER. 

Temp.     James     I. 

Broadside  {Society  of  Antiquaries). 


called  up.  He  had  already  been  brought  to  suffer  Sir  Horace  Yere 
to  take  some  English  volunteers  to  the  Palatinate.  But  the 
succour  had  come  too  late.  The  cry  for  a  Parliament,  the 
necessary  prelude  to  a  war,  overpowered  the  King's  secret 
resistance  ;  and  the  Houses  were  again  called  together.  But  the 
Commons  were  bitterly  chagrined  as  they  found  only  demands  for 
supplies,  and  a  persistence  in  the  old  efforts  to  patch  up  a  peace. 


• 


ioo8 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  ii  James  even  sought  the  good  will  of  the  Spaniards  by  granting 
The  first  license  for  the  export  of  arms  to  Spain.  The  resentment  of  the 
Commons  found  expression  in  their  dealings  with  home  affairs. 
The  most  crying  constitutional  grievance  arose  from  the  revival  of 
monopolies,  in  spite  of  the  pledge  of  Elizabeth  to  suppress  them. 
A  parliamentary  right  which  had  slept  ever  since  the  reign  of 
Henry  VI.,  the  right  of  the  Lower  House  to  impeach  great  offenders 
at  the  bar  of  the  Lords,  was  revived  against  the  monopolists  ;  and 
James  was  driven  by  the  general  indignation  to  leave  them  to  their 


OF   THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


KNIGHT    OF    THE    GARTER    AND    ATTENDANT. 
Album  of  G.  Holtzschuher  of  Nuremberg,  1623 — 1625.      MS.  Eg.  1624. 


fate.  But  the  practice  of  monopolies  was  only  one  sign  of  the 
corruption  of  the  court.  Sales  of  peerages  and  offices  of  state  had 
raised  a  general  disgust  ;  and  this  disgust  showed  itself  in  the 
impeachment  of  the  highest  among  the  officers  of  State,  the 
Fall  of  Chancellor,  Francis  Bacon,  the  most  distinguished  man  of  his  time 
for  learning  and  ability.  At  the  accession  of  James  the  rays  of 
royal  favour  had  broken  slowly  upon  Bacon.  He  became 
successively  Solicitor  and  Attorney-General ;  the  year  of  Shak- 
spere's  death  saw  him  called   to  the  Privy  Council  ;  he  verified 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1009 


Elizabeth's  prediction  by  becoming  Lord  Keeper.  At  last  the  goal 
of  his  ambition  was  reached.  He  had  attached  himself  to  the  rising 
fortunes  of  Buckingham,  and  the  favour  of  Buckingham  made  him 
Lord  Chancellor.  He  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Verulam, 
and  created,  at  a  later  time,  Viscount  St.  Albans.  But  the  nobler 
dreams  for  which  these  meaner  honours  had  been  sought  escaped 
his  grasp.  His  projects  still  remained  projects,  while  to  retain 
his  hold  on  office  he  was  stooping  to  a  miserable  compliance  with 
the  worst  excesses  of  Buckingham  and  his  royal  master.  The 
years  during  which 
he  held  the  Chancel- 
lorship were  the  most 
disgraceful  years  of 
a  disgraceful  reign. 
They  saw  the  execu- 
tion of  Ralegh,  the 
sacrifice  of  the  Pala- 
tinate, the  exaction 
of  benevolences,  the 
multiplication  of 
monopolies,  the  su- 
premacy of  Bucking- 
ham. Against  none 
of  the  acts  of  folly 
and  wickedness 
which  distinguished 
James's  Government 
did  Bacon    do  more 

than  protest ;  in  some  of  the  worst,  and  above  all  in  the  attempt  to 
coerce  the  judges  into  prostrating  law  at  the  King's  feet,  he  took 
a  personal  part.  But  even  his  remonstrances  were  too  much  for  the 
young  favourite,  who  regarded  him  as  the  mere  creature  of  his  will. 
It  was  in  vain  that  Bacon  flung  himself  on  the  Duke's  mercy,  and 
begged  him  to  pardon  a  single  instance  of  opposition  to  his 
caprice.  A  Parliament  was  impending,  and  Buckingham  resolved 
to  avert  from  himself  the  storm  which  was  gathering  by  sacrificing 
to  it  his  meaner  dependants.  To  ordinary  eyes  the  Chancellor 
was  at  the  summit  of  human  success.     Jonson  had  just   sung  of 


TILE   WITH   ARMS  AND    CREST  OF   THE  BACON  FAMILY. 
South  Kensington  Museum. 


Sec.  II 
The  First 

of   THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 

I6l8 


l62I 


IOIO  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


sec.  ii      him  as  one  "  whose  even  thread  the  Fates  spin  round  and  full   out 

The  first    of  their  choicest  and  their  whitest  wool,"  when  the  storm   burst. 

OF  THE  -i  i  •  • 

Stuarts     The  Commons  charged  Bacon  with  corruption  in  the  exercise  of  his 

'to4  office.  It  had  been  customary  among  Chancellors  to  receive  gifts 
l—  from  successful  suitors  after  their  suit  was  ended.  Bacon,  it  is  cer- 
tain, had  taken  such  gifts  from  men  whose  suits  were  still  unsettled ;. 
and  though  his  judgement  may  have  been  unaffected  by  them,  the 
fact  of  their  reception  left  him  with  no  valid  defence.  He  at 
once  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge.  "  I  do  plainly  and  ingenuously 
confess  that  I  am  guilty  of  corruption,  and  do  renounce  all 
defence."  "  I  beseech  your  Lordships,"  he  added,  "  to  be  merciful 
to  a  broken  reed."  The  heavy  fine  imposed  on  him  was  remitted 
by  the  Crown  ;  but  the  Great  Seal  was  taken  from  him,  and  he  was 
declared  incapable  of  holding  office  in  the  State  or  of  sitting  in 
Parliament.  Bacon's  fall  restored  him  to  that  position  of  real 
greatness  from  which  his  ambition  had  so  long  torn  him  away. 
"  My  conceit  of  his  person,"  said  Ben  Jonson,  "  was  never  increased 
towards  him  by  his  place  or  honours.  But  I  have  and  do  reverence 
him  for  his  greatness  that  was  only  proper  to  himself,  in  that  he 
seemed  to  me  ever  by  his  work  one  of  the  greatest  men,  and  most 
worthy  of  admiration,  that  had  been  in  many  ages.  In  his 
adversity  I  ever  prayed  that  God  would  give  him  strength  :  for 
greatness  he  could  not  want."  His  intellectual  activity  was  never 
more  conspicuous  than  in  the  last  four  years  of  his  life.  He  had 
presented  "  Novum  Organum  "  to  James  in  the  year  before  his  fall ; 
in  the  year  after  it  he  produced  his  "  Natural  and  Experimental 
History."  He  began  a  digest  of  the  laws,  and  a  "  History  of 
England  under  the  Tudors,"  revised  and  expanded  his  "  Essays," 
dictated  a  jest  book,  and  busied  himself  with  experiments  in 
Death  of  physics.  It  was  while  studying  the  effect  of  cold  in  preventing 
animal  putrefaction  that  he  stopped  his  coach  to  stuff  a  fowl  with 
snow  and  caught  the  fever  which  ended  in  his  death. 
Dissolu-  James  was  too  shrewd  to  mistake  the  importance  of  Bacon's 
thenar-  impeachment ;  but  the  hostility  of  Buckingham  to  the  Chancellor, 
liament  anci  Bacon's  own  confession  of  his  guilt,  made  it  difficult  to  resist 
his  condemnation.  Energetic  too  as  its  measures  were  against 
corruption  and  monopolists,  the  Parliament  respected  scrupulously 
the  King's  prejudices  in  other  matters  ;  and  even  when  checked  by 


Bacon 
1626 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND 


ion 


an    adjournment,    resolved    unanimously  to    support    him    in    any      sec.  ii 
earnest  effort  for  the   Protestant  cause.     A  warlike  speech   from    The  First 

r  OF  THE 

a    member  before  the  adjournment  roused  an  enthusiasm   which     Stuarts 

!6o4 
recalled    the    days    of    Elizabeth.     The    Commons    answered    the         to 

appeal  by  a  unanimous  vote,  "  lifting  their  hats  as  high  as   they 
could   hold  them,"  that   for  the   recovery  of  the  Palatinate  they 
would    adventure    their    fortunes,    their    estates,    and    their    lives. 
"  Rather  this  declaration,"   cried   a  leader   of    the    country   party 
when  it  was  read  by  the  Speaker,  "  than  ten  thousand  men  already 
on    the    march."       For  the  moment    the    resolve  seemed   to  give 
vigour  to  the  royal  policy.     James  had  aimed  throughout  at  the 
restitution  of  Bohemia  to  Ferdinand,  and  at  inducing  the  Empero^ 
through  the  mediation  of  Spain,  to  abstain  from  any  retaliation  on 
the   Palatinate.      He  now   freed  himself  for  a  moment  from  the 
trammels  of  diplomacy,  and  enforced  a  cessation  of  the  attack  on 
his   son-in-lawf,s   dominions  by  a   threat  of  war.     The  suspension 
of  arms  lasted  through  the  summer  ;  but  mere  threats  could  do 
no  more,   and    on   the  conquest  of  the  Upper   Palatinate  by  the 
forces  of  the  Catholic  League,  James  fell  back  on  his  old  policy 
of   mediation    through    the    aid  of   Spain.      The  negotiations   for 
the  marriage   with  the   Infanta  were  pressed  more  busily.     Gon- 
domar,    the    Spanish  Ambassador,   who   had  become  all-powerful 
at    the  English  court,  was    assured  that    no  effectual    aid   should 
be  sent  to  the  Palatinate.     The  English  fleet,  which  was  cruising 
by  way  of  menace  off  the  Spanish  coast,  was  called  home.     The 
King    dismissed    those    of    his     ministers    who    still    opposed    a 
Spanish  policy ;    and   threatened  on   trivial    pretexts  a    war  with 
the   Dutch,   the    one    great    Protestant    power   that    remained    in 
alliance   with  England,  and  was  ready  to  back  the  Elector.     But 
he  had   still  to    reckon   with    his   Parliament ;    and    the    first    act  Nov.  1621 
of  the   Parliament    on    its    re-assembling    was    to    demand    a  de- 
claration of  war  with    Spain.      The   instinct    of   the   nation   was 
wiser  than    the    statecraft    of   the  King.      Ruined    and    enfeebled 
as  she  really  was,  Spain  to  the  world  at  large  still  seemed  the 
champion  of   Catholicism.      It   was   the  entry  of   her   troops   into 
the  Palatinate  which  had  first  widened  the  local  war  in  Bohemia 
into  a  great  struggle  for  the  suppression  of   Protestantism  along 
the    Rhine  ;    above    all  it   was  Spanish   influence,   and  the  hopes 


3EOI2 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  ii  held  out  of  a  marriage  of  his  son  with  a  Spanish  Infanta,  which 
the  first  were  luring  the  King  into  his  fatal  dependence  on  the  great  enemy 
of  the  Protestant  cause.  In  their  petition  the  Houses  coupled 
with  their  demands  for  war  the  demand  of  a  Protestant  marriage 
for  their  future  King.  Experience  proved  in  later  years  how 
perilous  it  was  for  English  freedom  that  the  heir  to  the  Crown 
should  be  brought  up  under  a  Catholic  mother  ;  but  James  was 
beside  himself  at  their  presumption  in  dealing  with  mysteries 
of  state.     "  Bring  stools  for  the  Ambassadors,"  he  cried  in  bitter 


OF   THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


CHARLES     I.,    AS     PRINCE    OF    WALES. 
Miniature  by  Peter  Oliver,  in  the  Royal  Collection  at  Windsor. 


irony  as  their  committee  appeared  before  him.  He  refused  the 
petition,  forbade  any  further  discussion  of  state  policy,  and 
threatened  the  speakers  with  the  Tower.  "  Let  us  resort  to 
our  prayers,"  a  member  said  calmly  as  the  King's  letter  was 
read,  "and  then  consider  of  this  great  business."  The  temper 
Protesta-    of  the  House  was  seen  in  the  Protestation  which  met  the  royal 

Hon 

of  the  command  to  abstain  from  discussion.  It  resolved  "That  the  liber- 
ties, franchises,  privileges,  and  jurisdictions  of  Parliament  are  the 
ancient  and  undoubted  birthright  and  inheritance  of  the  subjects 
of  England  ;  and  that  the  arduous  and  urgent  affairs  concerning 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1013 


the  King,  state,  and  defence  of  the  realm,  and  of  the  Church 
of  England,  and  the  making  and  maintenance  of  laws,  and  redress 
of  grievances,  which  daily  happen  within  this  realm,  are  proper 
subjects  and  matter  of  council  and  debate  in  Parliament.  And  that 
in  the  handling  and  proceeding  of  those  businesses  every  member 
of  the  House  hath,  and  of  right  ought  to  have,  freedom  of  speech 
to  propound,  treat,  reason,  and  bring  to  conclusion  the  same." 

The  King  answered  the  Protestation  by  a  characteristic  outrage. 
He  sent  for  the  Journals  of  the  House,  and  with  his  own  hand  tore 
out    the    pages   which   contained   it.      "  I    will   govern,"    he    said, 


Sec.  II 

The  First 
of   THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


ROCKING-HORSE    OF    CHARLES    I. 
From  the  Old  Palace,  Theobald's  Grove  ;   now  in  the  Great  House,  Cheshunt. 


"  according  to  the  common  weal,  but  not  according  to  the  common 

will."     A    few   days    after    he    dissolved    the    Parliament.     "  It    is  Dec.  1621 

the  best  thing  that  has  happened   in   the  interests   of  Spain   and 

of  the    Catholic    religion    since    Luther    began   preaching,"   wrote 

the  Count  of  Gondomar  to  his   master,  in  his  joy  that  all  danger 

of  war  had    passed  away.     "  I    am   ready   to  depart,"  Sir   Henry 

Savile,  on    the    other    hand,    murmured    on    his    death-bed,    "the 

rather  that  having  lived  in  good  times  I  foresee  worse."     Abroad 
Vol.  Ill— 6 


ioi4 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 
The  Fikst 

OF    THE 

Stuarts 
1604 

TO 
1623 


indeed  all  was  lost  ;  and  Germany  plunged  wildly  and  blindly 
forward  into  the  chaos  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  But  for  England 
the  victory  of  freedom  was  practically  won.  James  had  himself 
ruined  the  main  bulwarks  of  the  monarchy.  In  his  desire  for 
personal  government  he  had  destroyed  the  authority  of  the  Council. 
He  had  accustomed  men  to  think  lightly  of  the  ministers  of  the 
Crown,  to  see  them  browbeaten  by  favourites,  and  driven  from 
office  for  corruption.  He  had  disenchanted  his  people  of  their 
blind   faith   in  the  monarchy    by    a   policy   at  home  and    abroad; 


LORD    MAYOR    OF    LONDON,    SWORD-BEARER    AND    SEAL-BEARER. 

Album  of  G.  Holtzschuher  of  Nuremberg,  1623 — 1625. 

MS.  Eg.  1264. 


which  ran  counter  to  every  national  instinct.  He  had  quarrelled 
with,  and  insulted  the  Houses,  as  no  English  sovereign  had  ever 
done  before  ;  and  all  the  while  the  authority  he  boasted  of  was 
passing,  without  his  being  able  to  hinder  it,  to  the  Parliament 
which  he  outraged.  There  was  shrewdness  as  well  as  anger 
in  his  taunt  at  its  "  ambassadors."  A  power  had  at  last  risen 
up  in  the  Commons  with  which  the  Monarchy  was  henceforth 
to  reckon.  In  spite  of  the  King's  petulant  outbreaks,  Parliament 
had  asserted   its   exclusive   right  to   the   control    of   taxation.     It 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1015 


had  attacked  monopolies.  It  had  reformed  abuses  in  the  courts 
of  law.  It  had  revived  the  right  of  impeaching  and  removing 
from  office  the  highest  ministers  of  the  Crown.  It  had  asserted 
its  privilege  of  free  discussion  on  all  questions  connected  with 
the  welfare  of  the  realm.  It  had  claimed  to  deal  with  the 
question  of  religion.  It  had  even  declared  its  will  on  the  sacred 
"mystery"  of  foreign  policy.  James  might  tear  the  Protestation 
from  its  Journals,  but  there  were  pages  in  the  record  of  the 
Parliament  of  1621  which  he  never  could  tear  out. 


Sec.  II 

The  First 
of  THE 
Stvarts 

1604 

TO 
1623 


LADY     MAYORESS    AND    ATTENDANTS. 

Album  of G.  Holtzschuher  of  Nuremberg,  1623 — 1625. 
MS.  Eg.  1264. 


chap,  viii  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1017 


Sec.  Ill 
The  King 

AND   THE 

Parlia- 
ment 


1623 


ro 


Section  III. — The  King  and  the  Parliament,  1623 — 1629  ^29 

[Authorities. — For  the  first  part  of  this  period  we  have  still  Mr.  Gardiner's 
"  History  of  England  from  the  Accession  of  James  I.,'"  which  throws  a  full  and 
fresh  light  on  one  of  the  most  obscure  times  in  our  history.  His  work  is  as 
valuable  for  the  early  reign  of  Charles,  a  period  well  illustrated  by  Mr.  Forster's 
"  Life  of  Sir  John  Eliot."  Among  the  general  accounts  of  the  reign  of  Charles, 
Mr.  Disraeli's  "  Commentaries  on  the  Reign  of  Charles  I."  is  the  most  prominent 
on  the  one  side;  Brodie's  "History  of  the  British  Empire,1'  and  Godwin's 
"  History  of  the  Commonwealth,"  on  the  other.  M.  Guizot's  work  is  accurate 
and  impartial,  and  Lingard  of  especial  value  for  the  history  of  the  English 
Catholics,  and  for  his  detail  of  foreign  affairs.  For  the  ecclesiastical  side  see 
Laud's  "  Diary."  The  Commons  Journal  gives  the  proceedings  of  the  Parlia- 
ments. Throughout  this  period  the  Calendars  of  State  Papers,  now  issuing 
under  the  direction  of  the  Master  of  the  Rolls,  are  of  the  greatest  historic  value. 
Ranke's  "  History  of  England  in  the  Seventeenth  Century"  is  important  for  the 
whole  Stuart  period.] 

In  the  obstinacy  with  which  he  clung  to  his  Spanish  policy  The 
James  stood  absolutely  alone  ;  for  not  only  the  old  nobility  and  Marriage 
the  statesmen  who  preserved  the  tradition  of  the  age  of  Elizabeth, 
but  even  his  own  ministers,  with  the  exception  of  Buckingham, 
and  the  Treasurer,  Cranneld,  were  at  one  with  the  Commons.  The 
King's  aim,  as  we  have  said,  was  to  enforce  peace  on  the  com- 
batants, and  to  bring  about  the  restitution  of  the  Palatinate 
to  the  Elector,  through  the  influence  of  Spain.  It  was  to  secure 
this  influence  that  he  pressed  for  a  closer  union  with  the  great 
Catholic  power  ;  and  of  this  union,  and  the  success  of  the  policy 
which  it  embodied,  the  marriage  of  his  son  Charles  with  the 
Infanta,  which  had  been  held  out  as  a  lure  to  his  vanity,  was 
to  be  the  sign.  But  the  more  James  pressed  for  this  consum- 
mation of  his  projects,  the  more  Spain  held  back.  At  last 
Buckingham  proposed  to  force  the  Spaniard's  hand  by  the 
arrival  of  Charles  himself  at  the  Spanish  Court.  The  Prince 
quitted  England  in  disguise,  and  appeared  with  Buckingham  at 
Madrid  to  claim  his  bride.  It  was  in  vain  that  Spain  rose  in  1623 
its  demands  ;  for  every  new  demand  was  met  by  fresh  concessions 
on    the    part    of    England.      The    abrogation    of    the    penal    laws 


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-chap,  viii  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1019 


against    the     Catholics,    a    Catholic    education    for    the     Prince's      Sec  hi 
children,  a  Catholic  household  for  the   Infanta,  all  were  no  sooner    The  K: 

AND    THE 

asked  than  they  were  granted.     But  the  marriage  was  still  delayed,      p^*r 
while  the  influence  of  the  new  policy  on  the  war  in  Germany  was        l623 
hard  to  see.     The  Catholic   League  and  its  arm)-,  under  the  com-        1629 
mand  of  Count  Tilly,  won  triumph  after  triumph  over  their  divided 
foes.     The  reduction  of  Heidelberg  and  Mannheim  completed  the 
conquest    of    the    Palatinate,    whose    Elector    fled    helplessly    to 
Holland,    while    his    Electoral    dignity    was    transferred    by    the 
Emperor   to  the   Duke  of   Bavaria.     But  there   was    still   no  sign 
of   the    hoped-for    intervention    on    the    part    of    Spain.     At    last 
the    pressure    of    Charles    himself    brought    about    the    disclosure 
of  the  secret  of   its  policy.     "  It   is   a   maxim  of   state  with  us 
Olivares  confessed,   as   the    Prince  demanded   an   energetic   inter- 
ference  in   Germany,   "  that  the  King  of   Spain   must  never  fight 
against  the  Emperor.     We  cannot  employ  our  forces  against  the 
Emperor."    '"If    you    hold    to    that,"    replied    the    Prince,    "there 
is  an  end  of  all." 

His    return    was    the  signal  for  a  burst  of  national  joy.     All     Charles 

the 
London  was  alight  with  bonfires,  in  her  joy  at  the  failure  of  the       First 

Spanish  match,  and  of  the  collapse,  humiliating  as  it  was,  of  the 
policy  which  had  so  long  trailed  English  honour  at  the  chariot- 
wheels  of  Spain.  Charles  returned  to  take  along  with  Buckingham 
the  direction  of  affairs  out  of  his  father's  hands.  The  journey  to 
Madrid  had  revealed  to  those  around  him  the  strange  mixture  of 
obstinacy  and  weakness  in  the  Prince's  character,  the  duplicitv 
which  lavished  promises  because  it  never  purposed  to  be  bound  by 
any,  the  petty  pride  that  subordinated  every  political  considera- 
tion to  personal  vanity  or  personal  pique.  He  had  granted 
demand  after  demand,  till  the  very  Spaniards  lost  faith  in  his 
concessions.  With  rage  in  his  heart  at  the  failure  of  his  efforts, 
he  had  renewed  his  betrothal  on  the  very  eve  of  his  departure, 
•only  that  he  might  insult  the  Infanta  by  its  withdrawal  when  he 
was  safe  at  home.  But  to  England  at  large  the  baser  features 
of  his  character  were  still  unknown.  The  stately  reserve,  the 
personal  dignity  and  decency  of  manners  which  distinguished  the 
Prince,  contrasted  favourably  with  the  gabble  and  indecorum  of 
"his  father.     The  courtiers  indeed  who  saw  him  in  his  youth,  would 


CHAP.   VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


I02I 


often  pray  God  that  kk  he  might  be  in  the  right 
way  when  he  was  set  ;  for  if  he  was  in  the 
wrong  he  would  prove  the  most  wilful  of  any 
king  that  ever  reigned."  But  the  nation  was 
willing  to  take  his  obstinacv  for  firmness  ;  els 
it  took  the  pique  which  inspired  his  course  on 
his  return  for  patriotism  and  for  the  promise 
of  a  nobler  rule.  Under  the  pressure  of  Charles 
and  Buckingham  the  King  was  forced  to  call 
a  Parliament,  and  to  concede  the  point  on 
which  he  had  broken  with  the  last,  by  laying 
before  it  the  whole  question  of  the  Spanish 
negotiations.  Buckingham  and  the  Prince 
gave  their  personal  support  to  Parliament  in 
its  demand  for  a  rupture  of  the  treaties  with 
Spain  and  a  declaration  of  war.  A  subsidy 
was    eaeerlv    voted  ; 


HALBERT. 

Seventeenth  Century. 
Tozver  of  London. 


the  persecution  of 
the  Catholics,  which 
had  loner  been  sus- 
pended  out  of  deference  to  Spanish 
intervention,  began  with  new  vigour. 
The  head  of  the  Spanish  party,  Cran- 
field,  Earl  of  Middlesex,  the  Lord 
Treasurer,  was  impeached  on  a  charge 
of  corruption,  and  dismissed  from 
office.  James  was  swept  along  help- 
lessly by  the  tide  ;  but  his  shrewdness 
saw  clearly  the  turn  that  affairs  were 
taking ;  and  it  was  only  by  hard 
pressure  that  the  favourite  succeeded 
in  wresting  his  consent  to  the  dis- 
grace of  Middlesex.  "You  are  making 
a  rod  for  your  own  back,"  said  the 
King.  But  Buckingham  and  Charles 
persisted  in  their  plans  of  war.  A 
treaty  of  alliance  was  concluded  with 
Holland  ;      negotiations     were 


Sec.  Ill 
The   I 

AND    THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1623 

TO 
1629 


Breach 
with 

Spain 
1624 


begun 


CA'ICHPOLE. 

Seventeenth  Century. 

Tower  of  London, 


CHARLES    I.     OPENING    PARLIAMENT,    l625  ;     THE    COMMONS    PRESENTING    THEIR    SPEAKER 

TO    THE    KING. 
Contemporary  Print  in  the  British  Museum. 


chap,  vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1023 

with  the    Lutheran  Princes  of  North   Germany,   who  had    looked      sec.  hi 
coolly    on     at    the    ruin    of   the    Elector    Palatine  ;     an     alliance    The  Kin<; 

J  7  AND    THF. 

with    France    was    proposed,   and    the   marriage  of   Charles    with      P£ent 
Henrietta,  a  daughter  of  Henry  the  Fourth  of  France,  and  sister        l623 

0  '  TO 

of   its   King.      To    restore    the    triple    league    was    to   restore  the        1629 

system   of  Elizabeth  ;  but  the  first  whispers  of  a  Catholic  Queen        1625 

woke  opposition    in   the  Commons.      At  this  juncture  the   death    Death  of 

James 
of    the    King    placed    Charles    upon    the    throne  ;     and    his    first 

Parliament   met   in  May,   1625.     "We  can   hope  everything  from 

the   King  who    now   governs  us,"    cried    Sir    Benjamin    Rudyerd 

in  the  Commons.     But  there  were  cooler  heads  in  the  Commons 

than    Sir    Benjamin    Rudyerd's  ;    and    enough    had    taken    place 

in   the    few    months  since  its    last    session    to  temper    its    loyalty 

with  caution. 

The    war    with    Spain,  it  must   be  remembered,  meant  to  the        The 

Policy  of 

mass  of  Englishmen  a  war  with  Catholicism  ;  and  the  fervour  Charles 
against  Catholicism  without  roused  a  corresponding  fervour  against 
Catholicism  within  the  realm.  Every  English  Catholic  seemed  to 
Protestant  eyes  an  enemy  at  home.  A  Protestant  who  leant 
towards  Catholic  usage  or  dogma  was  a  secret  traitor  in  the  ranks. 
But  it  was  suspected,  and  suspicion  was  soon  to  be  changed  into 
certainty,  that  in  spite  of  his  pledge  to  make  no  religious 
concessions  to  France,  Charles  had  on  his  marriage  promised  to 
relax  the  penal  laws  against  Catholics,  and  that  a  foreign  power 
had  again  been  given  the  right  of  intermeddling  in  the  civil  affairs 
of  the  realm.  And  it  was  to  men  with  Catholic  leanings  that 
Charles  seemed  disposed  to  show  favour.  Bishop  Laud  was 
recognized  as  the  centre  of  that  varied  opposition  to  Puritanism, 
whose  members  were  loosely  grouped  under  the  name  of 
Arminians  ;  and  Laud  now  became  the  King's  adviser  in  eccle- 
siastical matters.  With  Laud  at  its  head  the  new  party  grew  in 
boldness  as  well  as  numbers.  It  naturally  sought  for  shelter  for 
its  religious  opinions  by  exalting  the  power  of  the  Crown.  A 
court  favourite,  Montague,  ventured  to  slight  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  the  Continent  in  favour  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
to  advocate  as  the  faith  of  the  Church  the  very  doctrines  rejected 
by  the  Calvinists.  The  temper  of  the  Commons  on  religious 
matters    was    clear  to  every  observer.     "  Whatever  mention  does 


io24  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  hi      break  forth  of  the  fears  or  dangers  in  religion,  and  the  increase  of 

the  king    Popery,"  wrote  a  member  who  was  noting  the  proceedings  of  the 

parlia-      House,  "  their  affections  are  much  stirred."     Their  first  act  was  to 

MENT 

1623       summon  Montague  to  the  bar  and  to  commit  him  to  prison.     But 

TO 

1629  there  were  other  grounds  for  their  distrust  besides  the  King's 
ecclesiastical  tendency.  The  conditions  on  which  the  last  subsidy 
had  been  granted  for  war  with  Spain  had  been  contemptuously  set 
aside  ;  in  his  request  for  a  fresh  grant  Charles  neither  named  a 
sum  nor  gave  any  indication  of  what  war  it  was  to  support.  His 
reserve  was  met  by  a  corresponding  caution.  While  voting  a  small 
and  inadequate  subsidy,  the  Commons  restricted  their  grant  of 
certain  customs  duties  called  tonnage  and  poundage,  which  had 
commonly  been  granted  to  the  new  sovereign  for  life,  to  a  single 
year,  so  as  to  give  time  for  consideration  of  the  additional 
impositions  laid  by  James  on  these  duties.  The  restriction  was 
taken  as  an  insult  ;  Charles  refused  to  accept  the  grant  on  such  a 

A  1625  condition,  and  adjourned  the  Houses.  When  they  met  again  at 
Oxford  it  was  in  a  sterner  temper,  for  Charles  had  shown  his 
defiance  of  Parliament  by  drawing  Montague  from  prison,  by 
promoting  him  to  a  royal  chaplaincy,  and  by  levying  the  disputed 
customs  without  authority  of  law.  "  England,"  cried  Sir  Robert 
Phelips,  "  is  the  last  monarchy  that  yet  retains  her  liberties.  Let 
them  not  perish  now ! "  But  the  Commons  had  no  sooner 
announced  their  resolve  to  consider  public  grievances  before 
entering  on  other  business  than  they  were  met  by  a  dissolution. 

Bucking-  Buckingham,  to  whom  the  firmness  of  the  Commons  seemed 
designs  simpty  tne  natural  discontent  which  follows  on  ill  success,  resolved 
to  lure  them  from  their  constitutional  struggle  by  a  great  military 
triumph.  His  hands  were  no  sooner  free  than  he  sailed  for  the 
Hague  to  conclude  a  general  alliance  against  the  House  of 
Austria,  while  a  fleet  of  ninety  vessels  and  ten  thousand  soldiers 
left  Plymouth  in  October  for  the  coast  of  Spain.  But  these  vast 
projects  broke  down  before  Buckingham's  administrative  in- 
capacity. The  plan  of  alliance  proved  fruitless.  After  an  idle 
descent  on  Cadiz  the  Spanish  expedition  returned  broken  with 
mutiny  and  disease  ;  and  the  enormous  debt  which  had  been 
incurred  in  its  equipment  forced  the  favourite  to  advise  a  new 
summons  of  the  Houses.     But  he  was  keenly  alive  to  the  peril  in 


VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


1025 


which  his  failure  had  plunged  him,  and  to    a  coalition  which  had      Sec.  hi 
been  formed  between  his  rivals  at  Court  and  the  leaders  of  the  last    The  King 

AND    THE 

Parliament.     His  reckless  daring  led  him  to  anticipate  the  danger,      P^!;.!TA" 
and  by  a  series  of  blows  to  strike  terror  into  his  opponents.     The        l623 
Councillors  were  humbled  by  the  committal  of  Lord  Arundel  to  the        l&29 
Tower.     Sir  Robert  Phelips,  Coke,  and  four  other  leading  patriots 
were  made  sheriffs    of  their    counties,  and    thus    prevented    from 
sitting   in   the  coming  Parliament.     But  their  exclusion  only  left 
the  field  free  for  a  more  terrible  foe. 

If  Hampden  and  Pym  are  the  great  figures  which  embody  the       Eliot 
later    national  resistance,  the    earlier    struggle    for    Parliamentary 


ST.    GERMANS    CHURCH    AND    PORT    ELIOT. 


liberty  centres  in  the  figure  of  Sir  John  Eliot.  Of  an  old  family 
which  had  settled  under  Elizabeth  near  the  fishing  hamlet  of  St. 
Germans,  and  raised  their  stately  mansion  of  Port  Eliot,  he  had 
risen  to  the  post  of  Vice- Admiral  of  Devonshire  under  the 
patronage  of  Buckingham,  and  had  seen  his  activity  in  the 
suppression  of  piracy  in  the  Channel  rewarded  by  an  unjust 
imprisonment.      He    was    now    in    the    first    vigour    of    manhood, 


1026 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  hi  with  a  mind  exquisitely  cultivated  and  familiar  with  the  poetry  and 

the  king  learning  of  his  day,  a  nature  singularly  lofty  and  devout,  a  fearless 

AND   THE  °                                       J                                                     O                   J                   J 

Pment"  and  vehement  temper.     There  was  a  hot  impulsive  element  in  his 

l623  nature    which  showed  itself   in  youth  in  his  drawing  sword  on  a 
1629 


SIR    JOHN     ELIOT. 
Picture  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of  St.  Germans,  at  Port  Eliot. 


neighbour  who  denounced  him  to  his  father,  and  which  in  later 
years  gave  its  characteristic  fire  to  his  eloquence.  But  his  intellect 
was  as  clear  and  cool  as  his  temper  was  ardent.  In  the  general 
enthusiasm  which  followed  on  the  failure  of  the  Spanish  marriage, 
he  had    stood  almost    alone  in  pressing  for  a  recognition  of  the 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1027 

rights  of  Parliament,  as   a  preliminary  to  any  real  reconciliation      sec.  hi 
with  the  Crown.     He  fixed,  from  the  very  outset  of  his  career,  on     ThbKikg 

AND   THE 

the  responsibility  of  the  royal  ministers  to  Parliament,  as  the  one  P*R!;IA" 
critical  point  for  English  liberty.  It  was  to  enforce  the  demand  1623 
of  this  that  he  availed  himself  of  Buckingham's  sacrifice  of  the  1629 
Treasurer,  Middlesex,  to  the  resentment  of  the  Commons.  "The  1624 
greater  the  delinquent,"  he  urged,  "  the  greater  the  delict.  They 
are  a  happy  thing,  great  men  and  officers,  if  they  be  good,  and 
one  of  the  greatest  blessings  of  the  land  :  but  power  converted  into 
evil  is  the  greatest  curse  that  can  befall  it."  But  the  new- 
Parliament  had  hardly  met,  when  he  came  to  the  front  to  threaten 
a  greater  criminal  than  Middlesex.  So  menacing  were  his  words,  as 
he  called  for  an  inquiry  into  the  failure  before  Cadiz,  that  Charles 
himself  stooped  to  answer  threat  with  threat.  "  I  see,"  he  wrote  Impeach- 
to  the  House,  "  you  especially  aim  at  the  Duke  of  Buckingham.  I  Bucking- 
must  let  you  know  that  I  will  not  allow  any  of  my  servants  to  be 
questioned  among  you,  much  less  such  as  are  of  eminent  place 
and  near  to  me."  A  more  direct  attack  on  a  right  already  1626 
acknowledged  in  the  impeachment  of  Bacon  and  Middlesex  could 
hardly  be  imagined,  but  Eliot  refused  to  move  from  his  constitu- 
tional ground.  The  King  was  by  law  irresponsible,  he  "could  do 
no  wrong."  If  the  country  therefore  was  to  be  saved  from  a  pure 
despotism,  it  must  be  by  enforcing  the  responsibility  of  the 
ministers  who  counselled  and  executed  his  acts.  Eliot  persisted  in 
denouncing  Buckingham's  incompetence  and  corruption,  and  the 
Commons  ordered  the  subsidy  which  the  Crown  had  demanded  to 
be  brought  in  "  when  we  shall  have  presented  our  grievances,  and 
received  his  Majesty's  answer  thereto."  Charles  summoned  them 
to  Whitehall,  and  commanded  them  to  cancel  the  condition.  He 
would  grant  them  "  liberty  of  counsel,  but  not  of  control  ;  "  and 
he  closed  the  interview  with  a  significant  threat.  "  Remember,"  he 
said,  "  that  Parliaments  are  altogether  in  my  power  for  their 
calling,  sitting,  and  dissolution  :  and,  therefore,  as  I  find  the  fruits 
of  them  to  be  good  or  evil,  they  are  to  continue  or  not  to  be." 
But  the  will  of  the  Commons  was  as  resolute  as  the  will  of  the 
King.  Buckingham's  impeachment  was  voted  and  carried  to  the 
Lords.  The  favourite  took  his  seat  as  a  peer  to  listen  to  the 
charge    with    so    insolent    an    air    of    contempt    that    one    of  the 


GEORGE    VILLIERS,    DUKE    OF    BUCKINGHAM. 
From  an  Engraving  by  IV.  J.  Delff%  after  a  Portrait  by  Miereveldt. 


chap,  vin  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1029 

managers  appointed  by  the  Commons  to  conduct  it  turned  sharply      Sec.  hi 
on  him.     "  Do  you  jeer,  my  Lord  ! "  said  Sir  Dudley  Digges.     "  I     The  King 

AND    THE 

can  show  you  when  a  greater  man  than  your  Lordship — as  high  as      IJjJ5i?" 

you  in  place  and  power,  and  as  deep  in  the  King's  favour — has        1623 

been  hanged  for  as  small  a  crime  as  these  articles  contain/'     The       1629 

"  proud  carriage "  of  the  Duke  provoked  an  invective  from  Eliot 

which  marks  a  new  era  in   Parliamentary  speech.     From  the  first 

the  vehemence  and  passion  of  his  words  had  contrasted  with  the 

grave,    colourless    reasoning    of   older    speakers.      His    opponents 

complained  that  Eliot  aimed  to  "  stir  up  affections."     The  quick 

emphatic  sentences  he  substituted  for  the  cumbrous  periods  of  the 

day,  his  rapid    argument,  his  vivacious  and  caustic  allusions,  his 

passionate    appeals,  his    fearless    invective,   struck    a  new  note  in 

English  eloquence.     The  frivolous  ostentation  of  Buckingham,  his 

very  figure  blazing  with  jewels  and  gold,  gave  point  to  the  fierce 

attack.     "  He  has  broken  those  nerves  and  sinews  of  our  land,  the 

stores  and  treasures  of  the  King.     There  needs  no  search  for  it. 

It  is  too  visible.     His  profuse  expenses,  his  superfluous  feasts,  his 

magnificent  buildings,  his  riots,  his  excesses,  what  are  they  but  the 

visible  evidences  of  an  express  exhausting  of  the  State,  a  chronicle 

of  the  immensity  of  his  waste  of  the  revenues   of  the  Crown  ? " 

With  the  same  terrible  directness  Eliot  reviewed  the  Duke's  greed 

and    corruption,    his    insatiate  ambition,  his    seizure  of  all  public 

authority,  his   neglect  of  every  public  duty,  his  abuse  for  selfish 

ends  of  the  powers  he  had  accumulated.     "  The  pleasure  of  his 

Majesty,  his  known  directions,  his  public  acts,  his  acts  of  council, 

the  decrees  of  courts — all  must  be  made  inferior  to  this  man's  will. 

No  right,  no  interest  may  withstand  him      Through  the  power  of 

state    and   justice  he  has  dared  ever  to  strike  at  his  own  ends." 

"  My  Lords,"  he  ended,  after  a  vivid  parallel  between  Buckingham 

and   Sejanus,   "  you  see  the  man  !     What  have  been  his  actions, 

what  he  is  like,  you  know  !     I  leave  him  to  your  judgment.     This 

only  is  conceived  by  us,  the  knights,  citizens,  and  burgesses  of  the 

Commons  House  of  Parliament,  that  by  him  came  all  our  evils,  in 

him  we  find  the  causes,  and  on  him  must  be  the  remedies  !     Pereat 

qui  perdere  cuncta  festinat.     Opprimatur  ne  omnes  opprimat ! " 

The  reply  of  Charles  was  as  fierce  and  sudden  as  the  attack  of  The  King 

Eliot.     He  hurried   to  the  House  of  Peers  to  avow  as  his  own  the     People 
Vol.  Ill— 7 


1030 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  Ill 
The  King 

AND   THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1623 

TO 
1629 


June  16, 
1626 


The 

Forced 

Loan 

1627 


deeds  with  which  Buckingham  was  charged.  Eliot  and  Digges 
were  called  from  their  seats,  and  committed  prisoners  to  the  Tower. 
The  Commons,  however,  refused  to  proceed  with  public  business 
till  their  members  were  restored  ;  and  after  a  ten-days'  struggle 
Eliot  was  released.  But  his  release  was  only  a  prelude  to  the  close 
of  the  Parliament.  "  Not  one  moment,"  the  King  replied  to  the 
prayer  of  his  Council  for  delay  ;  and  a  final  remonstrance  in  which 
the  Commons  begged  him  to  dismiss  Buckingham  from  his  service 
for  ever  was  met  by  their  instant  dissolution.  The  remonstrance 
was  burnt  by  royal  order  ;  Eliot  was  deprived  of  his  Vice- Admiral- 
ty ;  and  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  nation  to  pay  as  a  free  gift  the 
subsidies  which  the  Parliament  had  refused,  to  grant  till  their 
grievances  were  redressed.  But  the  tide  of  public  resistance  was 
slowly  rising.  Refusals  to  give  anything,  "  save  by  way  of  Parlia- 
ment," came  in  from  county  after  county.  When  the  subsidy-men 
of  Middlesex  and  Westminster  were  urged  to  comply,  they  answered 
with  a  tumultuous  shout  of  "  a  Parliament !  a  Parliament  !  else  no 
subsidies  !  "  Kent  stood  out  to  a  man.  In  Bucks  the  very  justices 
neglected  to  ask  for  the  "  free  gift."  The  freeholders  of  Cornwall 
only  answered  that,  "  if  they  had  but  two  kine,  they  would  sell  one 
of  them  for  supply  to  his  Majesty — in  a  Parliamentary  way."  The 
failure  of  the  voluntary  gift  forced  Charles  to  an  open  defiance  of 
the  law.  He  met  it  by  the  levy  of  a  forced  loan.  Commissioners 
were  named  to  assess  the  amount  which  every  landowner  was 
bound  to  lend,  and  to  examine  on  oath  all  who  refused.  Every 
means  of  persuasion,  as  of  force,  was  resorted  to.  The  pulpits  of 
the  Laudian  clergy  resounded  with  the  cry  of  "  passive  obedience." 
Dr.  Mainwaring  preached  before  Charles  himself,  that  the  King 
needed  no  Parliamentary  warrant  for  taxation,  and  that  to  resist 
his  will  was  to  incur  eternal  damnation.  Poor  men  who  refused  to 
lend  were  pressed  into  the  army  or  navy.  Stubborn  tradesmen 
were  flung  into  prison.  Buckingham  himself  undertook  the  task  of 
overawing  the  nobles  and  the  gentry.  Charles  met  the  opposition 
of  the  judges  by  instantly  dismissing  from  his  office  the  Chief 
Justice,  Crew.  But  in  the  country  at  large  resistance  was  uni- 
versal. The  northern  counties  in  a  mass  set  the  Crown  at  defiance. 
The  Lincolnshire  farmers  drove  the  Commissioners  from  the  town. 
Shropshire,  Devon,  and    Warwickshire  "  refused  utterly."      Eight 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1031 


Sec.  Ill 


peers,  with  Lord  Essex  and  Lord  Warwick  at  their  head,  declined 

to   comply  with  the  exaction   as  illegal.     Two  hundred   country     The  King 

°  J  AND    THE 

gentlemen,  whose  obstinacy  had  not  been  subdued  by  their  transfer 
from   prison  to  prison,  were  summoned  before  the  Council  ;  and 


Parlia- 
ment 

1623 

TO 
1629 


CHIEF    JUSTICE    CREW. 
After  W.  Hollar. 


John  Hampden,  as  yet  only  a  young  Buckinghamshire  squire, 
appeared  at  the  board  to  begin  that  career  of  patriotism  which  has 
made  his  name  dear  to  Englishmen.  "  I  could  be  content  to  lend," 
he  said,  "  but  fear  to  draw  on  myself  that  curse  in  Magna  Charta, 
which  should   be  read  twice  a  year  against  those  who  infringe  it." 


Ha?np- 

den's 

protest 


1032 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec  Ill 
The  King 

AND   THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1623 

TO 
1629 


So  close  an  imprisonment  in  the  Gate  House  rewarded  his  protest, 
"  that  he  never  afterwards  did  look  like  the  same  man  he  was 
before."  With  gathering  discontent  as  well  as  bankruptcy  before 
him,  nothing  could  save  the  Duke  but  a  great  military  success  ;  and 
he  equipped  a  force  of  six  thousand  men  for  the  maddest  and  most 
profligate  of  all  his  enterprises.  In  the  great  struggle  with  Catho- 
licism the  hopes  of  every  Protestant  rested  on  the  union  of  England 
with  France  against  the  House  of  Austria.  But  the  blustering  and 
blundering  of  the  favourite  had  at  last  succeeded  in  plunging  him 
into  strife  with  his  own  allies,  and  England  now  suddenly  found 


MONUMENT  OF  SIR   CHARLES    MONTAGUE,    1625,    IN    BARKING   CHURCH,    ESSEX. 
Gardiner,   "Student's  History  0/  England." 


herself  at  war  with  France  and  Spain  together.  The  French 
minister,  Cardinal  Richelieu,  anxious  as  he  was  to  maintain  the 
English  alliance,  was  convinced  that  the  first  step  to  any  effective 
interference  of  France  in  a  European  war  must  be  the  restoration 
of  order  at  home  by  the  complete  reduction  of  the  Protestant  town 
of  Rochelle  which  had  risen  in  revolt.  In  1625  English  aid  had 
been  given  to  the  French  forces,  however  reluctantly.  But  now 
Buckingham  saw  his  way  to  win  an  easy  popularity  at  home  by 
supporting  the  Huguenots  in  their  resistance.  The  enthusiasm  for 
their  cause  was  intense  ;  and  he  resolved  to  take  advantage  of  this 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1033 


enthusiasm  to  secure  such  a  triumph  for  the  royal  arms  as  should 
silence  all  opposition  at  home.  A  fleet  of  a  hundred  vessels  sailed 
under  his  command  for  the  relief  of  Rochelle.  But  imposing  as 
was  his  force,  the  expedition  was  as  disastrous  as  it  was  impolitic. 
After  an  unsuccessful  siege  of  the  castle  of  St.  Martin,  the  English 
troops  were  forced  to  fall  back  along  a  narrow  causeway  to  their 
ships  ;  and  in  the  retreat  two  thousand  fell,  without  the  loss  of  a 
single  man  to  their  enemies. 

The  first  result  of  Buckingham's  folly  was  to  force  on  Charles, 
overwhelmed  as  he  was  with  debt  and  shame,  the  summoning  of  a 
new  Parliament  ;  a  Parliament  which  met  in  a  mood  even  more 


Sec.  Ill 
The  King 

AND    THF. 

Parlia- 
ment 

1623 

TO 
1629 

Siege  of 

Rochelle 

1627 


The 
Petition 
of  Right 


ships  of  Buckingham's   fleet,  1627. 

"  Manifestation  of  the  Duke  of  Buckingham." 


resolute  than  the  last.  The  Court  candidates  were  everywhere 
rejected.  The  patriot  leaders  were  triumphantly  returned.  To 
have  suffered  in  the  recent  resistance  to  arbitrary  taxation  was  the 
sure  road  to  a  seat.  In  spite  of  Eliot's  counsel,  even  the  question 
of  Buckingham's  removal  gave  place  to  the  craving  for  redress  of 
wrongs  done  to  personal  liberty.  "  We  must  vindicate  our  ancient 
liberties,"  said  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  in  words  soon  to  be 
remembered  against  himself  :  "  we  must  reinforce  the  laws  made 
by  our  ancestors.  We  must  set  such  a  stamp  upon  them,  as  no 
licentious  spirit  shall  dare  hereafter  to  invade  them."  Heedless  of  The  Par- 
sharp  and  menacing  messages  from  the  King,  of  demands  that  lia^i°^ 
they  should  take  his  "  royal  word  "  for  their  liberties,  the  House 


chap,  vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  ic 

bent  itself  to  one  great  work,  the  drawing  up  a  Petition  of  Right.      Sbc  in 
The  statutes  that  protected  the  subject  against  arbitrarv  taxation,    the 

THE 

against  loans  and  benevolences,  against  punishment,  outlawry,  or  *£££' 
deprivation  of  goods,  otherwise  than  by  lawful  judgment  of  his  1623 
peers,  against  arbitrary  imprisonment  without  stated  charge,  1629 
against  billeting  of  soldiery  on  the  people  or  enactment  of  martial 
law  in  time  of  peace,  were  formally  recited.  The  breaches  of 
them  under  the  last  two  sovereigns,  and  above  all  since  the 
dissolution  of  the  last  Parliament,  were  recited  as  formally.  At 
the  close  of  this  significant  list,  the  Commons  prayed  "  that  no 
man  hereafter  be  compelled  to  make  or  yield  any  gift,  loan, 
benevolence,  tax,  or  such  like  charge,  without  common  consent 
by  Act  of  Parliament.  And  that  none  be  called  to  make  answer, 
or  to  take  such  oaths,  or  to  be  confined  or  otherwise  molested  or 
disputed  concerning  the  same,  or  for  refusal  thereof.  And  that  no 
freeman  may  in  such  manner  as  is  before  mentioned  be  im- 
prisoned or  detained.  And  that  your  Majesty  would  be 
pleased  to  remove  the  said  soldiers  and  mariners,  and  that  your 
people  may  not  be  so  burthened  in  time  to  come.  And  that  the 
commissions  for  proceeding  by  martial  law  may  be  revoked  and 
annulled,  and  that  hereafter  no  commissions  of  like  nature  may 
issue  forth  to  any  person  or  persons  whatsoever  to  be  executed 
as  aforesaid,  lest  by  colour  of  them  any  of  your  Majesty's  subjects 
be  destroyed  and  put  to  death,  contrary  to  the  laws  and  franchises 
of  the  land.  All  which  they  humbly  pray  of  your  most  excellent 
Majesty,  as  their  rights  and  liberties,  according  to  the  laws  and 
statutes  of  the  realm.  And  that  your  Majesty  would  also  vouch- 
safe to  declare  that  the  awards,  doings,  and  proceedings  to  the 
prejudice  of  your  people  in  any  of  the  premises  shall  not  be  drawn 
hereafter  into  consequence  or  example.  And  that  your  Majesty 
would  be  pleased  graciously  for  the  further  comfort  and  safety  of 
your  people  to  declare  your  royal  will  and  pleasure,  that  in  the 
things  aforesaid  all  your  officers  and  ministers  shall  serve  you 
according  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  this  realm,  as  they  tender 
the  honour  of  your  Majesty  and  the  prosperity  of  the  kingdom." 
It  was  in  vain  that  the  Lords  desired  to  conciliate  Charles  by  a 
reservation  of  his  "  sovereign  power."  "  Our  petition,"  Pym 
quietly  replied,  "  is  for  the  laws  of  England,  and  this  power  seems 


chap,  vni  PURITAN    ENGLAND 


10 


O/ 


to  be   another  power  distinct   from  the  power  of  the  law."     The      Sec.  hi 
Lords  yielded,  but  Charles  gave  an  evasive  reply  ;  and  the  failure    the  king 

*■     *  AND    THE 

of  the   more  moderate  counsels  for  which  his  own  had  been  set      parlia- 
ment 


aside,   called   Eliot  again  to    the  front.      In   a  speech    of  unpre-       1623 

TO 

cedented  boldness  he  moved  the  presentation  to  the  King  of  a  1629 
Remonstrance  on  the  state  of  the  realm.  But  at  the  moment 
when  he  again  touched  on  Buckingham's  removal  as  the  pre- 
liminary of  any  real  improvement  the  Speaker  of  the  House 
interposed.  "  There  was  a  command  laid  on  him,"  he  said,  "  to  in- 
terrupt any  that  should  go  about  to  lay  an  aspersion  on  the  King's 
ministers."  The  breach  of  their  privilege  of  free  speech  pro- 
duced a  scene  in  the  Commons  such  as  St.  Stephen's  had  never 
witnessed  before.  Eliot  sate  abruptly  down  amidst  the  solemn 
silence  of  the  House.  "  Then  appeared  such  a  spectacle  of 
passions,"  says  a  letter  of  the  time,  "  as  the  like  had  seldom  been 
seen  in  such  an  assembly  ;  some  weeping,  some  expostulating, 
some  prophesying  of  the  fatal  ruin  of  our  kingdom,  some  playing 
the  divines  in  confessing  their  sins  and  country's  sins  which  drew 
these  judgments  upon  us,  some  finding,  as  it  were  fault  with  those 
that  wept.  There  were  above  an  hundred  weeping  eyes,  many 
who  offered  to  speak  being  interrupted  and  silenced  by  their  own 
passions."  Pym  himself  rose  only  to  sit  down  choked  with  tears. 
At  last  Sir  Edward  Coke  found  words  to  blame  himself  for  the 
timid  counsels  which  had  checked  Eliot  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Session,  and  to  protest  "  that  the  author  and  source  of  all  those 
miseries  was  the  Duke  of  Buckingham." 

Shouts  of  assent  greeted  the  resolution  to  insert  the  Duke's  The 
name  in  their  Remonstrance.  But  at  this  moment  Charles  gave  Bucking- 
way.  To  win  supplies  for  a  new  expedition  to  Rochelle,  Bucking- 
ham bent  the  King  to  consent  to  the  Petition  of  Right.  As 
Charles  understood  it,  indeed,  the  consent  meant  little.  The  point 
for  which  he  really  cared  was  the  power  of  keeping  men  in  prison 
without  bringing  them  to  trial  or  assigning  causes  for  their  im- 
prisonment. On  this  he  had  consulted  his  judges  ;  and  they  had 
answered  that  his  consent  to  the  Petition  left  his  rights  untouched  ; 
like  other  laws,  they  said,  the  Petition  would  have  to  be  interpreted 
when  it  came  before  them,  and  the  prerogative  remained 
unaffected.     As  to  the  rest,  while  waiving  all  claims  to  levy  taxes 


ham 


io38 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  hi  not  granted  by  Parliament,  Charles  still  reserved  his  right  to 
the  king  jevy  impositions  paid  customarily  to  the  Crown,  and  amongst  these 
he  counted  tonnage  and  poundage.  Of  these  reserves  however 
the  Commons  knew  nothing.  The  King's  consent  won  a  grant  of 
subsidy  from  the  Parliament,  and  such  a  ringing  of  bells  and 
lighting  of  bonfires  from  the  people  "  as  was  never  seen  but  upon 
his  Majesty's  return  from  Spain."  But,  like  all  Charles's  conces- 
sions, it  came  too  late  to  effect  the  end  at  which  he  aimed.  The 
Commons  persisted    in   presenting  their    Remonstrance.     Charles 


Parlia- 
ment 

1623 

TO 
1629 


A    SUPPER-PARTY. 

Early  Seventeenth  Century. 

Ballad  in  Roxbtirghe  Collection  {British  Museum). 


received  it  coldly  and  ungraciously  ;  while  Buckingham,  who  had 
stood  defiantly  at  his  master's  side  as  he  was  denounced,  fell  on 
his  knees  to  speak.  "  No,  George  ! "  said  the  King  as  he  raised 
him  :  and  his  demeanour  gave  emphatic  proof  that  the  Duke's 
favour  remain  undiminished.  "  We  will  perish  together,  George," 
he  added  at  a  later  time,  "  if  thou  dost."  No  shadow  of  his  doom, 
in  fact,  had  fallen  over  the  brilliant  favourite,  when,  after  the 
prorogation  of  the  Parliament,  he  set  out  to  take  command  of  a 
new  expedition  for  the  relief  of  Rochelle.  But  a  lieutenant  in  the 
army,  John  Felton,  soured  by  neglect  and  wrongs,  had  found   in 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1039 


the  Remonstrance  some  fancied  sanction  for  the  revenge  he 
plotted  ;  and  mixing  with  the  throng  which  crowded  the  hall  at 
Portsmouth,  he  stabbed  Buckingham  to  the  heart.  Charles  flung 
himself  on  his  bed  in  a  passion  of  tears  when  the  news  reached 
him  ;  but  outside  the  Court  it  was  welcomed  with  a  burst  of  joy. 
Young  Oxford  bachelors,  grave  London  aldermen,  vied  with  each 
other  in  drinking  healths  to  Felton.  "  God  bless  thee,  little 
David,"  cried  an  old  woman,  as  the  murderer  passed  manacled  by  ; 
"  the  Lord  comfort  thee,"  shouted  the  crowd,  as  the  Tower  gates 
closed  on  him.  The  very  crews  of  the  Duke's  armament  at 
Portsmouth  shouted  to  the  King,  as  he  witnessed  their  departure, 
a  prayer  that  he  would  "  spare  John  Felton,  their  sometime  fellow 
soldier."  But  whatever  national  hopes  the  fall  of  Buckingham  had 
aroused  were  quickly  dispelled.  Weston,  a  creature  of  the  Duke, 
became  Lord  Treasurer,  and  his  system  remained  unchanged. 
"Though  our  Achan  is  cutoff,"  said  Eliot,  "the  accursed  thing 
remains." 

It  seemed  as  if  no  act  of  Charles  could  widen  the  breach  which 
his  reckless  lawlessness  had  made  between  himself  and  his 
subjects.  But  there  was  one  thing  dearer  to  England  than  free 
speech  in  Parliament,  than  security  for  property,  or  even  personal 
liberty  ;  and  that  one  thing  was,  in  the  phrase  of  the  day,  "  the 
Gospel."  The  gloom  which  at  the  outset  of  this  reign  we  saw 
settling  down  on  every  Puritan  heart  had  deepened  with  each 
succeeding  year.  The  great  struggle  abroad  had  gone  more,  and 
more  against  Protestantism,  and  at  this  moment  the  end  of  the 
cause  seemed  to  have  come.  In  Germany  Lutheran  and  Calvinist 
alike  lay  at  last  beneath  the  heel  of  the  Catholic  House  of  Austria. 
The  fall  of  Rochelle  after  Buckingham's  death  seemed  to  leave 
the  Huguenots  of  France  at  the  feet  of  a  Roman  Cardinal.  While 
England  was  thrilling  with  excitement  at  the  thought  that  her  own 
hour  of  deadly  peril  might  come  again,  as  it  had  come  in  the  year 
of  the  Armada,  Charles  raised  Laud  to  the  Bishopric  of  London, 
and  entrusted  him  with  the  direction  of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  To 
the  excited  Protestantism  of  the  country,  Laud  and  the  Church- 
men whom  he  headed  seemed  a  danger  really  more  formidable 
than  the  Popery  which  was  making  such  mighty  strides  abroad. 
To  the  Puritans  they  were  traitors  to  God  and  their    country  at 


Sec.  Ill 

The  King 
and  THE 
Parlia- 
ment 

1623 

TO 
1629 

1628 


The 
Quarrel 

of 
Religion 


1040 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  hi      once.     Their  aim    was   to    draw  the    Church  of   England    farther 
The  king    away  from  the  Protestant    Churches    and    nearer  to   the   Church 

AND    THE 

which    Protestants    regarded    as    Babylon.      They    aped    Roman 


MENT 
1623 

TO 
1629 

The 

Laudian 

Clergy 


ceremonies.  Cautiously  and  tentatively  they  were  introducing 
Roman  doctrine.  But  they  had  none  of  the  sacerdotal  independ- 
ence which  Rome  had  at  any  rate  preserved.  They  were  abject 
in  their  dependence  on  the  Crown.     Their  gratitude  for  the  royal 


"triple  episcopacie." 

Satire  of  the  Puritan  Party  on  Laud  and  the  Court  Bishops. 


protection  which  enabled  them  to  defy  the  religious  instincts  of 
the  realm  showed  itself  in  their  erection  of  the  most  dangerous 
pretensions  of  the  monarchy  into  religious  dogmas.  Archbishop 
Whitgift  declared  James  to  have  been  inspired  by  God.  They 
preached  passive  obedience  to  the  worst  tyranny.  They  declared 
the  persons  and  goods  of  the  subject  to  be  at  the  King's  absolute 
disposal.     They  were  turning  religion  into  a  systematic  attack  on 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1041 


English  liberty.  Up  to  this  time  they  had  been  little  more  than  a 
knot  of  courtly  ecclesiastics,  for  the  mass  of  the  clergy,  like  their 
flocks,  were  steady  Puritans  ;  but  the  energy  of  Laud,  and  the 
patronage  of  the  Court,  promised  a  speedy  increase  of  their 
numbers  and  their  power.  Sober  men  looked  forward  to  a  day 
when  every  pulpit  would  be  ringing  with  exhortations  to  passive 
obedience,  with  denunciations  of  Calvinism  and  apologies  for 
Rome.  Of  all  the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  Eliot  was 
least  fanatical  in  his  natural  bent,  but  the  religious  crisis  swept 
away  for  the  moment  all  other  thoughts  from  his  mind.  H  Danger 
enlarges  itself  in  so  great  a  measure,"  he  wrote  from  the  country, 
"  that  nothing  but  Heaven  shrouds  us  from  despair."  The  House 
met  in  the  same  temper.  The  first  business  called  up  was  that  of 
religion.  "  The  Gospel,"  Eliot  burst  forth,  "  is  that  truth  in  which 
this  kingdom  has  been  happy  through  a  long  and  rare  prosperity. 
This  ground,  therefore,  let  us  lay  for  a  foundation  of  our  building, 
that  that  Truth,  not  with  words,  but  with  actions  we  will  main- 
tain ! "  "  There  is  a  ceremony,"  he  went  on,  "  used  in  the  Eastern 
Churches,  of  standing  at  the  repetition  of  the  Creed,  to  testify  their 
purpose  to  maintain  it,  not  only  with  their  bodies  upright  but  with 
their  swords  drawn.  Give  me  leave  to  call  that  a  custom  very 
commendable  ! "  The  Commons  answered  their  leader's  challenge 
by  a  solemn  avowal.  They  avowed  that  they  held  for  truth  that 
sense  of  the  Articles  as  established  by  Parliament,  which  by  the 
public  act  of  the  Church,  and  the  general  current  exposition  of 
the  writers  of  their  Church,  had  been  delivered  unto  them.  But 
the  debates  over  religion  were  suddenly  interrupted.  The 
Commons,  who  had  deferred  all  grant  of  customs  till  the  wrong 
done  in  the  illegal  levy  of  them  was  redressed,  had  summoned  the 
farmers  of  those  due  to  the  bar  ;  but  though  they  appeared,  they 
pleaded  the  King's  command  as  a  ground  for  their  refusal  to 
answer.  The  House  was  proceeding  to  a  protest,  when  the 
Speaker  signified  that  he  had  received  an  order  to  adjourn. 
Dissolution  was  clearly  at  hand,  and  the  long-suppressed  indigna- 
tion broke  out  in  a  scene  of  strange  disorder.  The  Speaker  was 
held  down  in  the  chair  while  Eliot,  still  clinging  to  his  great 
principle  of  ministerial  responsibility,  denounced  the  New 
Treasurer   as   the   adviser   of   the   measure.      "  None   have   gone 


Sec.  Ill 
The  King 

AND    THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1623 

TO 
l629 


The 
Avowal 


Dissolu- 
tion of  the 
Parlia- 
ment 
1629 


1042 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  Ill 
The  King 

AND   THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1623 

TO 
1629 


about  to  break  Parliaments,"  he  added  in  words  to  which  after 
events  gave  a  terrible  significance,  "  but  in  the  end  Parliaments 
have  broken  them."  The  doors  were  locked,  and  in  spite 
of  the  Speaker's  protest,  of  the  repeated  knocking  of  the  usher 
at  the  door,  and  of  the  gathering  tumult  within  the  House 
itself,  the  loud  "  Aye,  Aye  "  of  the  bulk  of  the  members  supported 
Eliot  in  his  last  vindication  of  English  liberty.  By  successive 
resolutions  the  Commons  declared  whomsoever  should  bring  in 
innovations  in  religion,  or  whatever  minister  endorsed  the  levy  of 
subsidies  not  granted  in  Parliament,  "  a  capital  enemy  to  the  king- 
dom and  commonwealth,"  and  every  subject  voluntarily  com- 
plying with  illegal  acts  and  demands,  "  a  betrayer  of  the  liberty  of 
England  and  an  enemy  of  the  same." 


HAYMAKING. 

Early   Seventeenth   Century. 

Roxburghe  Ballad. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1043 


Section  IV. — New  England 

^Authorities. — The  admirable  account  of  American  colonization  given  by 
Mr.  Bancroft  (' History  of  the  United  States,'")  maybe  corrected  in  some  points 
of  detail  by  Mr.  Gardiner's  History.  For  Laud  himself,  see  his  remarkable 
"  Diary,"  and  his  Correspondence.  His  work  at  Lambeth  is  described  in 
Prynne's  scurrilous  '''Canterbury's  Doom."]  (Mr.  Doyle's  book  "The  English 
in  America"  has  appeared  since  this  list  was  drawn  up. — Ed.) 


Sec.  IV 

New 
England 


The  dissolution  of  the  Parliament  of  1629  marked  the  darkest 
hour  of  Protestantism,  whether  in  England  or  in  the  world  at  large. 
But  it  was  in  this  hour  of  despair  that  the  Puritans  won  their 
noblest  triumph.  They  "  turned."  to  use  Canning's  words  in  a  far 
truer  and  grander  sense  than  that  which  he  gave  to  them,  they 
"  turned  to  the  New  World  to  redress  the  balance  of  the  Old."  It 
was  during  the  years  of  tyranny  which  followed  the  close  of  the 
third  Parliament  of  Charles  that  a  great  Puritan  emigration 
founded  the  States  of  New  England. 

The  Puritans  were  far  from  being  the  earliest  among  the 
English  colonists  of  North  America.  There  was  little  in  the  cir- 
cumstances which  attended  the  first  discovery  of  the  Western 
world  which  promised  well  for  freedom  ;  its  earliest  result,  indeed, 
was  to  give  an  enormous  impulse  to  the  most  bigoted  and  tyranni- 
cal among  the  powers  of  Europe,  and  to  pour  the  wealth  of  Mexico 
and  Peru  into  the  treasury  of  Spain.  But  while  the  Spanish 
galleons  traversed  the  Southern  seas,  and  Spanish  settlers  claimed 
the  southern  part  of  the  great  continent  for  the  Catholic  crown,  a 
happy  instinct  drew  Englishmen  to  the  ruder  and  more  barren 
districts  along  the  shore  of  Northern  America.  England  had 
reached  the  mainland  even  earlier  than  Spain,  for  before  Columbus 
touched  its  shores  Sebastian  Cabot,  a  seaman  of  Genoese  blood 
born  and  bred  in  England,  sailed  with  an  English  crew  from 
Bristol    in   1497,  and  pushed    along  the  coast  of  America  to  the 


England 
and  the 

New 
World 


1044 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IV 

New 
England 


south  as  far  as  Florida,  and  northward  as  high  as  Hudson's  Bay. 
But  no  Englishman  followed  on  the  track  of  this  bold  adventurer ; 
and  while  Spain  built  up  her  empire  in  the  New  World,  the  Eng- 
lish seamen  reaped  a  humbler  harvest  in  the  fisheries  of  Newfound- 
land.    It  was  not  till  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  that  the  thoughts  of 


1576 


Englishmen  turned  again  to  the  New  World.  The  dream  of 
finding  a  passage  to  Asia  by  a  voyage  round  the  northern  coast 
of  the  American  continent  drew  a  west-country  seaman,  Martin 
Frobisher,  to  the  coast  of  Labrador,  and  the  news  which  he 
brought  back  of  the  existence  of  gold  mines  there  set  adventurers 
cruising  among  the  icebergs  of  Baffin's  Bay.     Luckily  the  quest  of 


VI 11 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


1045 


gold  proved  a  vain  one  ;  and  the  nobler  spirits  among  those  who  sec.  iv 

had  engaged  in  it  turned  to  plans  of  colonization.    But  the  countrv,  n 
vexed  by  long   winters   and   thinly   peopled  by  warlike  tribes   of       — 

Indians,  gave   a  rough  welcome  to  the  earlier  color.:-:-      After  a  15I 


SIR    HUMPHRY    GILBERT. 
Engraving  by  C.  Vau  de  Pas,  in  Holland's  "  Hzroologia." 


fruitless  attempt  to  form  a  settlement,  Sir  Humphry  Gilbert,  one  of 
the  noblest  spirits  of  his  time,  turned  homewards  again,  to  find  his 
fate  in  the  stormy  seas.  "  We  are  as  near  to  Heaven  by  sea  as  by 
land,"  were  the  famous  words  he  was  heard  to  utter,  ere  the  light 
of  his  little  bark  was  lost  for  ever  in  the  darkness  of  the  night.  An 
Vol.  Ill— 8 


1046 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap,  viii 


Sec.  IV 

New 
England 


expedition  sent  by  his  half-brother,  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  explored 
Pamlico  Sound  ;  and  the  country  they  discovered,  a  country 
where,  in  their  poetic  fancy,  "  men  lived  after  the  manner  of  the 
Golden  Age,"  received  from  Elizabeth,  the  Virgin.  Queen,  the  name 
of  Virginia.  The  introduction  of  tobacco  and  of  the  potato  into 
Europe  dates  from  Ralegh's  discovery ;  but  the  energy  of  his 
settlers  was  distracted  by  the  delusive  dream  of  gold,  the  hostility 
of  the  native  tribes  drove  them  from  the  coast,  and  it  is  through 
the  gratitude  of  later  times  for  what  he  strove  to  do,  rather  than 


A     FAMILY     GROUP. 

Temp.  James  I. 

Ballad  in  Roxburghe  Collection. 


for  what  he  did,  that  Raleigh,  the  capital  of  North  Carolina,  pre- 
1606  serves  his  name.  The  first  permanent  settlement  on  the  Chesa- 
peake was  effected  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  James  the  First, 
and  its  success  was  due  to  the  conviction  of  the  settlers  that  the 
secret  of  the  New  World's  conquest  lay  simply  in  labour.  Among 
the  hundred  and  five  colonists  who  originally  landed,  forty-eight 
were  gentlemen,  and  only  twelve  were  tillers  of  the  soil.  Their 
leader,  John  Smith,  however,  not  only  explored  the  vast  bay  of 
Chesapeake  and  discovered  the  Potomac  and  the   Susquehannah, 


QsShcfc  arc  the  LitlCS  thdtjhew  thyTaCCibut  thofc 

rJkatfhcw  thy  GraCC  and  Cf  Lory,  brighter  bee 

<  jhy  Tdirt-'Dijcou.cries  and  Towlc-  Over  throw  cs 

Of  Salvages, much,  Civillizd  by    tfie&-\Q^2 

BejlJTuw  t/iy  Sj3ifib;ana\  to  it  Glory  CtVyn.^ 

So,thou  art  Braise '  widiout,  but  C/olac  Within.  . 


SS*te4 


! 


^Jo;iti^BraJ?e/h?o  Joji Smiths  c^ich  to  bearc) 
13  Ijyt  thy  Jwnttm  make  BraJ?e<  Steele  out  wears. . 

(Thitttsu  thou  art  1'irtues, 


SouthJfainvton  ?V_  Hg#t 
% 


CAPTAIN     JOHN     SMITH. 
From  the  Map  of  Xezu  England  in  his  ''  Gene rail  Historie  of  Virginia" 


1048 


Sec  IV 

New 
England 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


but  held  the  little  company  together  in  the  face  of  famine  and 
desertion  till  the  colonists  had  learnt  the  lesson  of  toil.  In  his 
letters  to  the  colonizers  at  home  he  set  resolutely  aside  the  dream 
of  gold.  "Nothing  is  to  be  expected  thence,"  he  wrote  of  the 
new  country,  "  but  by  labour  ; "  and  supplies  of  labourers,  aided  by 


GEORGE    CALVERT,     FIRST    LORD    BALTIMORE. 
Picture  in  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  Verulam,  at  Gorhambury . 


a  wise  allotment  of  lands  to  each  colonist,  secured  after  five 
years  of  struggle  the  fortunes  of  Virginia.  "  Men  fell  to  building 
houses  and  planting  corn  ; "  the  very  streets  of  Jamestown,  as 
their  capital  was  called  from  the  reigning  sovereign,  were  sown 
with  tobacco  ;  and  in  fifteen  years  the  colony  numbered  five 
thousand  souls. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1049 


The  laws  and  representative  institutions  of  England  were  first      sec.  iv 
introduced   into  the   New   World   in   the  settlement    of  Virginia :       new 

0  England 

some  years  later  a  principle  as  unknown  to  England  as  it  was  to       — 
the  greater  part  of  Europe  found  its  home  in  another  colony,  which    Pilgrim 
received  its  name  of  Maryland  from  Henrietta  Maria,  the  Queen  of 
Charles  the  First.     Calvert,  Lord  Baltimore,  one  of  the  best  of  the 
Stuart  counsellors,  was  forced  by  his  conversion  to  Catholicism  to 
seek  a  shelter  for    himself  and  colonists  of  his  new  faith  in  the 
district  across  the  Potomac,  and  round  the  head  of  the  Chesapeake. 
As  a  purely  Catholic  settlement   was   impossible,  he  resolved  to       1634 
open  the  new  colony  to  men  of  every  faith.      "  Xo  person  within 


MEDAL    OF     CECIL     CALVERT,    SECOND     LORD     BALTIMORE,    AND     HIS    WIFE. 


this  province,"  ran  the  earliest  law  of  Maryland,  "  professing  to 
believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  shall  be  in  any  ways  troubled,  molested,  or 
discountenanced  for  his  or  her  religion,  or  in  the  free  exercise 
thereof."  Long  however  before  Lord  Baltimore's  settlement  in 
Maryland,  only  a  few  years  indeed  after  the  settlement  of  Smith  in 
Virginia,  the  church  of  Brownist  or  Independent  refugees,  whom 
we  saw  driven  in  the  reign  of  James  to  Amsterdam,  had  resolved 
to  quit  Holland  and  find  a  home  in  the  wilds  of  the  New  World. 
They  were  little  disheartened  by  the  tidings  of  suffering  which 
came  from  the  Virginian  settlement.  "  We  are  well  weaned," 
wrote  their  minister,  John  Robinson,  "  from  the  delicate  milk  of 
the  mother-country,  and  inured  to  the  difficulties  of  a  strange  land  ; 


1050 


Sec.  IV 

New 
England 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


the  people  are  industrious  and  frugal.  We  are  knit  together  as  a 
body  in  a  most  sacred  covenant  of  the  Lord,  of  the  violation 
whereof  we  make  great  conscience,  and  by  virtue  whereof  we  hold 
ourselves  strictly  tied  to  all  care  of  each  other's  good  and  of  the 
whole.  It  is  not  with  us  as  with  men  whom  small  things  can  dis- 
courage." Returning  from  Holland  to  Southampton,  they  started 
in  two  small  vessels  for  the  new  land  :  but  one  of  these  soon  put 


-  mm 

i 

From  Harper's  Magazine.  Copyright,  1878,  by  Harper  &  Brotherfl. 

GRAVE    OF    THOMAS    CLARK,    MATE    OF    THE     "MAYFLOWER,"     1627. 


back,  and  only  its  companion,  the  Mayflower,  a  bark  of  a  hundred 
and  eighty  tons,  with  forty-one  emigrants  and  their  families  on 
rfoo  board,  persisted  in  prosecuting  its  voyage.  The  little  company  of 
the  "  Pilgrim  Fathers,"  as  after-times  loved  to  call  them,  landed  on 
the  barren  coast  of  Massachusetts  at  a  spot  to  which  they  gave  the 
name  of  Plymouth,  in  memory  of  the  last  English  port  at  which 
they  touched.  They  had  soon  to  face  the  long  hard  winter  of  the 
north,  to  bear  sickness  and  famine  :  even  when  these  years  of  toil 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1051 


and  suffering  had  passed  there  was  a  time  when  "  they  knew  not 
at  night  where  to  have  a  bit  in  the  morning."  Resolute  and 
industrious  as  they  were,  their  progress  was  very  slow  ;  and  at  the 
end  of  ten  years  they  numbered  only  three  hundred  souls.  But 
small  as  it  was,  the  colony  was  now  firmly  established  and  the 
struggle  for  mere  existence  was  over.  "  Let  it  not  be  grievous 
unto  you,"  some  of  their  brethren  had  written  from  England  to  the 
poor  emigrants  in  the  midst  of  their  sufferings,  "  that  you  have 


Sec.  IV 

New- 
England 


ALLYN    HOUSE,    NEW    PLYMOUTH. 

Built  by  one  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  ;   demolished  1826. 

Tudor,  "Life  of  Otis,"  1823. 


been  instrumental  to  break  the  ice  for  others.     The  honours  shall 
be  yours  to  the  world's  end." 

From  the  moment  of  their  establishment  the  eyes  of  the  English 
Puritans  were  fixed  on  the  little  Puritan  settlement  in  North 
America.  Through  the  early  years  of  Charles  projects  were 
canvassed  for  a  new  settlement  beside  the  little  Plymouth  ;  and 
the  aid  which  the  merchants  of  Boston  in  Lincolnshire  gave  to  the 
realization  of  this  project  was  acknowledged  in  the  name  of  its 
capital.  At  the  moment  when  he  was  dissolving  his  third  Parlia- 
ment, Charles  granted  the  charter  which  established  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  ;  and  by  the  Puritans  at  large  the  grant  was  at  once 


The 
Puritan 
Emigra- 
tion 


1629 


1052 


Sec.  IV 

New 
England 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


regarded  as  a  Providential  call.  Out  of  the  failure  of  their  great 
constitutional  struggle,  and  the  pressing  danger  to  "  godliness  "  in 
England,  rose  the  dream  of  a  land  in  the  West  where  religion  and 
liberty  could  find  a  safe  and  lasting  home.  The  Parliament  was 
hardly  dissolved,  when  "  conclusions  "  for  the  establishment  of  a 
great  colony  on  the  other  side  the  Atlantic  were  circulating  among 
gentry  and  traders,  and  descriptions  of  the  new  country  of  Massa- 
chusetts were  talked  over  in  every  Puritan  household.  The 
proposal  was   welcomed  with  the  quiet,  stern  enthusiasm  which 


AN    ENGLISH    CITIZEN     RIDING    WITH    HIS    WIFE. 

Album  of  Tobias  Oelhafen  of  Nuremberg,  1623 — 1625. 
M.S.  Eg.   1269. 


1630 


marked  the  temper  of  the  time  ;  but  the  words  of  a  well-known 
emigrant  show  how  hard  it  was  even  for  the  sternest  enthusiasts  to 
tear  themselves  from  their  native  land.  "  I  shall  call  that  my 
country,'"'  said  the  younger  Winthrop,  in  answer  to  feelings  of  this 
sort,  "  where  I  may  most  glorify  God  and  enjoy  the  presence  of  my 
dearest  friends."  The  answer  was  accepted,  and  the  Puritan 
emigration  began  on  a  scale  such  as  England  had  never  before 
seen.  The  two  hundred  who  first  sailed  for  Salem  were  soon 
followed  by  John  Winthrop  with  eight  hundred  men  ;  and  seven 
hundred  more  followed  ere  the  first  year  of  the  king's  personal  rule 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


I053 


had  run  its  course.  Nor  were  the  emigrants,  like  the  earlier 
colonists  of  the  South,  "  broken  men,"  adventurers,  bankrupts, 
criminals ;  or  simply  poor  men  and  artisans,  like  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  of  the  Mayflower.  They  were  in  great  part  men  of  the 
professional  and  middle  classes  ;  some  of  them  men  of  large  landed 
estate,  some  zealous  clergymen  like  Cotton,  Hooker,  and  Roger 
Williams,  some  shrewd  London  lawyers,  or  young  scholars  from 
Oxford.     The   bulk  were  God-fearing  farmers  from  Lincolnshire 


Sec.  IV 

New- 
England 


RURAL    SCENE. 

Middle  Seventeenth  Century. 

Ballad  in   Roxburghe   Collection. 


and  the  Eastern  counties.  They  desired  in  fact  "  only  the  best  " 
as  sharers  in  their  enterprise  ;  men  driven  forth  from  their  father- 
land not  by  earthly  want,  or  by  the  greed  of  gold,  or  by  the  lust  of 
adventure,  but  by  the  fear  of  God,  and  the  zeal  for  a  godly  worship. 
But  strong  as  was  their  zeal,  it  was  not  without  a  wrench  that  they 
tore  themselves  from  their  English  homes.  "  Farewell,  dear 
England  ! "  was  the  cry  which  burst  from  the  first  little  company  of 
emigrants  as  its  shores  faded  from  their  sight.  ,;  Our  hearts," 
wrote  Winthrop's  followers  to   the  brethren  whom  they  had  left 


io54 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  iv  behind,  "  shall  be  fountains  of  tears  for  yoar  everlasting  welfare, 

new  when  we  shall  be  in  our  poor  cottages  in  the  wilderness." 

England  *                          ° 

L     .  During  the  next  two  years,   as  the   sudden  terror   which  had 

and  the  found  so  violent  an  outlet  in  Eliot's  warnings  died  for  the  moment 
Puritans 

away,  there  was  a  lull  in  the  emigration.     But  the  measures  of 


WILLIAM   LAUD,    ARCHBISHOP   OF   CANTERBURY, 
Pic  hire  by   Vandyck. 


Laud  soon  revived  the  panic  of  the  Puritans.  The  shrewdness  of 
James  had  read  the  very  heart  of  the  man  when  Buckingham 
pressed  for  his  first  advancement  to  the  see  of  St.  David's.  "  He 
hath  a  restless  spirit,"  said  the  old  King,  "  which  cannot  see  when 
things  are  well,  but  loves  to  toss  and  change,  and  to  brin^  matters 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1055 

to  a  pitch  of  reformation   floating   in   his  own   brain.     Take  him      Sec.  iv 
with  you,   but  by  my  soul  you  will   repent  it."     Cold,   pedantic,        new 

II*  N  G  L>  A  N  D 

superstitious  as  he  was  (he  notes  in  his  diary  the  entry  of  a  robin- 
redbreast  into  his  study  as  a  matter  of  grave  moment),  William 
Laud  rose  out  of  the  mass  of  court-prelates  by  his  industry,  his 
personal  unselfishness,  his  remarkable  capacity  for  administration. 
At  a  later  period,  when  immersed  in  State-business,  he  found  time 
to  acquire  so  complete  a  knowledge  of  commercial  affairs  that  the 
London  merchants  themselves  owned  him  a  master  in  matters  of 
trade.  Of  statesmanship  indeed  he  had  none.  But  Laud's 
influence  was  really  derived  from  the  unity  of  his  purpose.  He 
directed  all  the  power  of  a  clear,  narrow  mind  and  a  dogged  will  to 
the  realization  of  a  single  aim.  His  resolve  was  to  raise  the 
Church  of  England  to  what  he  conceived  to  be  its  real  position  as 
a  branch,  though  a  reformed  branch,  of  the  great  Catholic  Church 
throughout  the  world  ;  protesting  alike  against  the  innovations  of 
Rome  and  the  innovations  of  Calvin,  and  basing  its  doctrines  and 
usages  on  those  of  the  Christian  communion  in  the  centuries  which 
preceded  the  Council  of  Nicaea.  The  first  step  in  the  realization 
of  such  a  theory  was  the  severance  of  whatever  ties  had  hitherto 
united  the  English  Church  to  the  Reformed  Churches  of  the 
Continent.  In  Laud's  view  episcopal  succession  was  of  the  essence 
of  a  Church,  and  by  their  rejection  of  bishops,  the  Lutheran  and 
Calvinistic  Churches  of  Germany  and  Switzerland  had  ceased  to 
be  Churches  at  all.  The  freedom  of  worship  therefore  which  had 
been  allowed  to  the  Huguenot  refugees  from  France,  or  the 
Walloons  from  Flanders,  was  suddenly  withdrawn  ;  and  the 
requirement  of  conformity  with  the  Anglican  ritual  drove  them  in 
crowds  from  the  southern  ports  to  seek  toleration  in  Holland. 
The  same  conformity  was  required  from  the  English  soldiers  and 
merchants  abroad,  who  had  hitherto  attended  without  scruple  the 
services  of  the  Calvinistic  churches.  The  English  ambassador  in 
Paris  was  forbidden  to  visit  the  Huguenot  conventicle  at  Charenton. 
As  Laud  drew  further  from  the  Protestants  of  the  Continent,  he 
drew,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  nearer  to  Rome.  LI  is  theory 
owned  Rome  as  a  true  branch  of  the  Church,  though  severed  from 
that  of  England  by  errors  and  innovations  against  which  Laud 
vigorously   protested.      But  with   the   removal  of  these   obstacles 


„£-t      ^vvt    un    tomr    IN    CHIGWELL    CHURCH, 
BRASS    OF    ARCHBISHOP    HARSNETT,    l63I,    ON    HIS    TOMB 

ESSEX. 

The  latest  representation  of  an  English  prelate  in  the  old  episcopal  vestments. 

Catalogue  of  Harsnett  Library. 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


i°57 


Sec.  IV 

New 
England 


reunion  would  naturally  follow,  and  his  dream  was  that  of  bridging 
over  the  gulf  which  ever  since  the  Reformation  had  parted  the  two 
Churches.     The    secret    offer  of  a   cardinal's   hat    proved    Rome's 
sense  that  Laud  was  doing  his  work  for  her  ;  while   his  rejection 
of  it,  and  his  own  reiterated  protestations,  prove  equally  that  he 
was    doing    it    unconsciously.     Union    with    the    great    body   of 
Catholicism,    indeed,    he 
regarded  as  a  work  which 
only    time     could     bring 
about,  but   for  which    he 
could  prepare  the  Church 
of  England  by  raising  it 
to      a     higher     standard 
of    Catholic    feeling    and 
Catholic    practice.       The 
great  obstacle  in  his  way 
was     the    Puritanism     of 
nine-tenths  of  the  English 
people,   and    on  Puritan- 
ism he  made  war  without 
mercy.     No    sooner    had 
his  elevation  to  the  see  of 
Canterbury  placed  him  at 
the  head  of  the  English 
Church,   than    he    turned 
the  High  Commission  into 
a  standing  attack  on  the 
Puritan  ministers.  Rectors 
and  vicars  were  scolded, 
suspended,    deprived    for 
"Gospel  preaching."    The 
use   of  the  surplice,   and 

the  ceremonies  most  offensive  to  Puritan  feeling,  were  enforced  in    Laud  as 
every  parish.      The    lectures    founded   in    towns,  which   were   the      bishop 
favourite  posts  of  Puritan  preachers,  were   rigorously  suppressed.        1633 
They  found  a  refuge  among  the  country  gentlemen,  and  the  Arch- 
bishop withdrew  from  the  country  gentlemen  the  privilege  of  keeping 
chaplains,  which  they  had  till  then  enjoyed.     As  parishes  became 


DR.    THOMAS     BEARD. 

Schoolmaster  and  Lecturer  at  a  Puritan  Church  in 
Huntingdon. 

Frontispiece  to  his  " Pedantius,"  1631. 


io58 


HISTORY    OF  THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IV 

New 
England 


vacant  the  High  Church  bishops  had  long  been  filling  them  with 
men  who  denounced  Calvinism,  and  declared  passive  obedience  to 
the  sovereign  to  be  part  of  the  law  of  God.  The  Puritans  soon 
felt  the  stress  of  this  process,  and  endeavoured  to  meet  it  by  buying 
up  the  appropriations  of  livings,  and  securing  through  feoffees  a 
succession  of  Protestant  ministers  in  the  parishes  of  which  they 
were  patrons  ;  but  Laud  cited  the  feoffees  before  the  Court  of 
Exchequer,    and    roughly    put   an   end    to    them.       Nor    was    the 


MINSTRELS    OUTSIDE    TAVERN. 

Early  Seventeenth  Century. 

Roxburghc  Ballad. 


persecution  confined  to  the  clergy.  Under  the  two  last  reigns  the 
small  pocket-Bibles  called  the  Geneva  Bibles  had  become  uni- 
versally popular  amongst  English  laymen  ;  but  their  marginal  notes 
were  found  to  savour  of  Calvinism,  and  their  importation  was 
prohibited.  The  habit  of  receiving  the  communion  in  a  sitting 
posture  had  become  common,  but  kneeling  was  now  enforced,  and 
hundreds  were  excommunicated  for  refusing  to  comply  with  the 
injunction.  A  more  galling  means  of  annoyance  was  found  in  the 
different  views    of   the   two    religious    parties    on    the    subject    of 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


io59 


Sunday.     The  Puritans  identified  the  Lord's  day  with  the  Jewish      Sec.  iv 
Sabbath,  and  transferred  to  the  one  the  strict  observances  which     „  n"ew 

'  England 

were  required  for  the  other.     The    Laudian   clergy,  on  the  other     Sunda 
hand,  regarded  it  simply  as  one  among  the  holidays  of  the  Church,    pastimes 
and  encouraged  their  flocks  in  the  pastimes  and  recreations  after 
service  which  had   been   common  before   the   Reformation        The 
Crown  under  James  had  taken  part  with  the  High  Churchmen,  and 
had  issued  a  "  Book  of  Sports  "  which  recommended  certain  games 


[6 


jj 


'THE    LAMENTABLE    COMPLAINT    OF    NICK    FROTH    AND    RULEROST  "    AGAINST    THE 
PURITAN    OBSERVANCE    OF    SUNDAY. 
Tract,  1641. 


as  lawful  and  desirable  on  the  Lord's  day.  The  Parliament,  as 
might  be  expected,  was  stoutly  on  the  other  side,  and  had  forbid- 
den Sunday  pastimes  by  statute.  The  general  religious  sense  of 
the  country  was  undoubtedly  tending  to  a  stricter  observance  of  the 
day,  when  Laud  brought  the  contest  to  a  sudden  issue.  He  sum- 
moned the  Chief-Justice,  Richardson,  who  had  enforced  the  statute 
in  the  western  shires,  to  the  Council-table,  and  rated  him  so 
violently  that  the  old  man  came  out  complaining  he  had  been  all 
but   choked   by  a   pair  of  lawn  sleeves.     He  then   ordered   every 


io6o 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IV 

New- 
England 


Laud 

and  the 

Clergy 


minister  to  read  the  declaration  in  favour  of  Sunday  pastimes  from 
the  pulpit.  One  Puritan  minister  had  the  wit  to  obey,  and  to  close 
the  reading  with  the  significant  hint,  "  You  have  heard  read,  good 
people,  both  the  commandment  of  God  and  the  commandment  of 
man.  Obey  which  you  please."  But  the  bulk  refused  to  comply 
with  the  Archbishop's  will.  The  result  followed  at  which  Laud 
no  doubt  had  aimed.  Puritan  ministers  were  cited  before  the 
High  Commission,  and  silenced  or  deprived.  In  the  diocese  of 
Norwich  alone  thirty  parochial  ministers  were  expelled  from  their 
cures. 

The  suppression  of  Puritanism  in  the  ranks  of  the  clergy  was 
only  a  preliminary  to  the  real  work  on  which  the  Archbishop's 
mind  was  set,  the  preparation  for  Catholic  reunion  by  the  elevation 
of  the  clergy  to  a  Catholic  standard  in  doctrine  and  ritual.  Laud 
publicly  avowed  his  preference  of  an  unmarried  to  a  married 
priesthood.  Some  of  the  bishops,  and  a  large  part  of  the  new 
clergy  who  occupied  the  posts  from  which  the  Puritan  ministers 
had  been  driven,  advocated  doctrines  and  customs  which  the 
Reformers  had  denounced  as  sheer  Papistry ;  the  practice,  for 
instance,  of  auricular  confession,  a  Real  Presence  in  the  Sacrament, 
or  prayers  for  the  dead.  One  prelate,  Montague,  was  earnest  for 
reconciliation  with  Rome.  Another,  Goodman,  died  acknowledging 
himself  a  Papist.  Meanwhile  Laud  was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts 
to  raise  the  civil  and  political  status  of  the  clergy  to  the  point 
which  it  had  reached  ere  the  fatal  blow  of  the  Reformation  fell  on 
the  priesthood.  Among  the  archives  of  his  see  lies  a  large  and 
costly  volume  in  vellum,  containing  a  copy  of  such  records  in  the 
Tower  as  concerned  the  privileges  of  the  clergy.  Its  compilation 
was  entered  in  the  Archbishop's  diary  as  one  among  the  "  twenty- 
one  things  which  I  have  projected  to  do  if  God  bless  me  in  them," 
and  as  among  the  fifteen  to  which  before  his  fall  he  had  been 
enabled  to  add  his  emphatic  "  done."  The  power  of  the  Bishops' 
Courts,  which  had  long  fallen  into  decay,  revived  under  his  patron- 
age. In  1636  he  was  able  to  induce  the  King  to  raise  a  prelate, 
Juxon,  Bishop  of  London,  to  the  highest  civil  post  in  the  realm, 
that  of  Lord  High  Treasurer.  "  No  Churchman  had  it  since 
Henry  the  Seventh's  time,"  Laud  comments  proudly.  "  I  pray 
God   bless  him  to  carry   it  so  that   the  Church  may  have  honour, 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1061 


and  the  State  service  and  content  by  it.     And  now,  if  the  Church      s«civ 
will  not  hold  up  themselves,  under  God  I  can  do  no  more.''     As  he     Ei£^XD 
aimed  at  a  more  Catholic  standard  of  doctrine  in  the  clergy,  so  he  La^~and 
aimed  at  a  nearer  approach  to  the  pomp  of  Catholicism  in  public      Ritual 


WILLIAM  JUXON,    BISHOP   OF   LONDON    (AFTERWARDS   ARCHBISHOP   OF   CANTERBURY). 

From  an  Engraving  by  H.  D.    Thielcke. 


worship.  His  conduct  in  his  own  house  at  Lambeth  brings  out 
with  singular  vividness  the  reckless  courage  with  which  he  threw 
himself  across  the  religious  instincts  of  a  time  when  the  spiritual 
aspect  of  worship  was  overpowering  in  most  men's  minds  its  aesthe- 
tic and  devotional  sides.  Men  noted  as  a  fatal  omen  the  accident 
Vol.  Ill— 9 


1062 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap,  vni 


Sec.  IV 

New 
England 


which  marked  his  first  entry  into  Lambeth  ;  for  the  overladen 
ferry-boat  upset  in  the  passage  of  the  river,  and  though  the  horses 
and  servants  were  saved,  the  Archbishop's  coach  remained  at  the 
bottom  of  the  Thames.  But  no  omen,  carefully  as  he  might  note 
it,  brought  a  moment's  hesitation  to  the  bold,  narrow  mind  of  the 
new  Primate.  His  first  act,  he  boasted,  was  the  setting  about  a 
restoration  of  his  chapel  ;  and,  as  Laud  managed  it,  his  restoration 
was  the  simple  undoing  of  all  that  had  been  done  there  by  his 
predecessors  since  the  Reformation.  The  chapel  of  Lambeth 
House  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  among  the  ecclesiastical 
buildings  of  the  time  ;  it  had  seen  the  daily  worship  of  every 
Primate  since  Cranmer,  and  was  a  place  "  whither  many  of  the 
nobility,  judges,  clergy,  and  persons  of  all  sorts,  as  well  strangers 


COACH    AND    SEDAN-CHAIR. 
Title-page  of  Tract  "Coach  and  Sedan,"  1636. 


as  natives,  resorted."  But  all  pomp  of  worship  had  gradually 
passed  away  from  it.  Under  Cranmer  the  stained  glass  was 
dashed  from  its  windows.  In  Elizabeth's  time  the  communion 
table  was  moved  into  the  middle  of  the  chapel,  and  the  credence 
table  destroyed.  Under  James  Archbishop  Abbot  put  the  finish- 
ing stroke  on  all  attempts  at  a  high  ceremonial.  The  cope  was  no 
longer  used  as  a  special  vestment  in  the  communion.  The 
Primate  and  his  chaplains  forbore  to  bow  at  the  name  of  Christ. 
The  organ  and  choir  were  alike  abolished,  and  the  service  reduced 
to  a  simplicity  which  would  have  satisfied  Calvin.  To  Laud  the 
state  of  the  chapel  seemed  intolerable.  With  characteristic  energy 
he  aided  with  his  own  hands  in  the  replacement  of  the  painted 
glass  in  its  windows,  and  racked  his  wits  in  piecing  the  fragments 


CHAPEL,     LAMBETH    PALACE 
Ceiling  put  up  by  Laud  ;  stalls  and  screen  by  Juxon. 


1064 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IV 

New 
England 


The 
Puritan 
Colonies 


together.  The  glazier  was  scandalized  by  the  Primate's  express 
command  to  repair  and  set  up  again  the  "  broken  crucifix  "  in  the 
east  window.  The  holy  table  was  removed  from  the  centre,  and 
set  altar-wise  against  the  eastern  wall,  with  a  cloth  of  arras  behind 
it,  on  which  was  embroidered  the  history  of  the  Last  Supper.  The 
elaborate  woodwork  of  the  screen,  the  rich  copes  of  the  chaplain, 
the  silver  candlesticks,  the  credence  table,  the  organ  and  the  choir, 
the  stately  ritual,  the  bowings  at  the  sacred  name,  the  genuflexions 
to  the  altar,  made  the  chapel  at  last  such  a  model  of  worship  as 
Laud  desired.  If  he  could  not  exact  an  equal  pomp  of  devotion  in 
other  quarters,  he  exacted  as  much  as  he  could.  Bowing  to  the 
altar  was  introduced  into  all  cathedral  churches.  A  royal  injunc- 
tion ordered  the  removal  of  the  communion  table,  which  for  the 
last  half-century  or  more  had  in  almost  every  parish  church  stood 
in  the  middle  of  the  nave,  back  to  its  pre-Reformation  position  in 
the  chancel,  and  secured  it  from  profanation  by  a  rail.  The  re- 
moval implied,  and  was  understood  to  imply,  a  recognition  of  the 
Real  Presence,  and  a  denial  of  the  doctrine  which  Englishmen 
generally  held  about  the  Lord's  Supper.  But,  strenuous  as  was 
the  resistance  Laud  encountered,  his  pertinacity  and  severity 
warred  it  down.  Parsons  who  denounced  the  change  from  their 
pulpits  were  fined,  imprisoned,  and  deprived  of  their  benefices. 
Churchwardens  who  refused  or  delayed  to  obey  the  injunction 
were  rated  at  the  Commission-table,  and  frightened  into  compli- 
ance. 

In  their  last  Remonstrance  to  the  King  the  Commons  had 
denounced  Laud  as  the  chief  assailant  of  the  Protestant  character 
of  the  Church  of  England  ;  and  every  year  of  his  Primacy  showed 
him  bent  upon  justifying  the  accusation.  His  policy  was  no 
longer  the  purely  conservative  policy  of  Parker  or  Whitgift  ;  it 
was  aggressive  and  revolutionary.  His  "  new  counsels "  threw 
whatever  force  there  was  in  the  feeling  of  conservatism  into  the 
hands  of  the  Puritan,  for  it  was  the  Puritan  who  now  seemed  to  be 
defending  the  old  character  of  the  Church  of  England  against  its 
Primate's  attacks.  But  backed  as  Laud  was  by  the  power  of  the 
Crown,  the  struggle  became  more  hopeless  every  day.  While  the 
Catholics  owned  that  they  had  never  enjoyed  a  like  tranquillity, 
while    the    fines  for    recusancy  were    reduced,  and    their    worship 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  106 


suffered  to  go  on  in  private  houses,  the  Puritan  saw  his  ministers      s«c  iv 
silenced  or  deprived,  his  Sabbath  profaned,  the  most  sacred  act  of    _  New 

1  1  England 

his  worship  brought  near,  as  he  fancied,  to  the  Roman  mass. 
Roman  doctrine  met  him  from  the  pulpit,  Roman  practices  met 
him  in  the  Church.  We  can  hardly  wonder  that  with  such  a 
world  around  them  "  godly  people  in  England  began  to  apprehend 
a  special  hand  of  Providence  in  raising  this  plantation "  in 
Massachusetts  ;  "  and  their  hearts  were  generally  stirred  to  come 
over."  It  was  in  vain  that  weaker  men  returned  to  bring  news  of 
hardships  and  dangers,  and  told  how  two  hundred  of  the  new 
comers  had  perished  with  their  first  winter.  A  letter  from 
Winthrop  told  how  the  rest  toiled  manfully  on.  "  We  now  enjoy 
God  and  Jesus  Christ,"  he  wrote  to  those  at  home,  "  and  is  not  that 
enough  ?  I  thank  God  I  like  so  well  to  be  here  as  I  do  not 
repent  my  coming.  I  would  not  have  altered  my  course  though  I 
had  foreseen  all  these  afflictions.  I  never  had  more  content  of 
mind."  With  the  strength  and  manliness  of  Puritanism,  its 
bigotry  and  narrowness  had  crossed  the  Atlantic  too.  Roger 
Williams,  a  young  minister  who  held  the  doctrine  of  freedom  of 
conscience,  was  driven  from  the  new  settlement,  to  become  a 
preacher  among  the  settlers  of  Rhode  Island.  The  bitter 
resentment  stirred  in  the  emigrants  by  persecution  at  home  was 
seen  in  their  rejection  of  Episcopacy  and  their  prohibition  of  the 
use  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  The  intensity  of  its  religious 
sentiments  turned  the  colony  into  a  theocracy.  "  To  the  end  that 
the  body  of  the  Commons  may  be  preserved  of  honest  and  good 
men,  it  was  ordered  and  agreed  that  for  the  time  to  come  no  man 
shall  be  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  the  body  politic  but  such  as 
are  members  of  some  of  the  churches  within  the  bounds  of  the 
same."  As  the  contest  grew  hotter  at  home  the  number  of  Puritan 
emigrants  rose  fast.  Three  thousand  new  colonists  arrived  from 
England  in  a  single  year.  The  growing  stream  of  emigrants 
marks  the  terrible  pressure  of  the  time.  Between  the  sailing  of 
WTinthrop's  expedition  and  the  assembly  of  the  Long  Parliament, 
in  the  space,  that  is,  of  ten  or  eleven  years,  two  hundred  emigrant 
ships  had  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  twenty  thousand  Englishmen 
had  found  a  refuge  in  the  West. 


M««fe  ...;,  ,.,„ ^iAAvzmm 


CHARLES     I. 
Illumination  on  a  Patent  in  Public  Record  Otfice. 


chap,  viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1067 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 

1640 


Section  V. — The  Personal  Government,  1629 — 1640 

\_Authorities. — For  the  general  events  of  the  time,  see  previous  sections. 
The  "  Strafford  Letters/'  and  the  Calendars  of  Domestic  State  Papers  for  this 
period  give  its  real  history.  "  Baillie's  Letters  "  tell  the  story  of  the  Scotch 
rising.  Generally,  Scotch  affairs  may  be  studied  in  Mr.  Burton's  "  History  of 
Scotland."  Portraits  of  Weston,  and  most  of  the  statesmen  of  this  period,  may 
be  found  in  the  earlier  part  of  Clarendon's  "  History  of  the  Rebellion."  ] 

At  the  opening  of  his  third  Parliament  Charles  had  hinted  in   The  Sus- 
ominous  words  that  the  continuance  of  Parliament  at  all  depended    0f  parlia- 
on  its  compliance  with  his  will.     "  If  you  do  not  your  duty,"  said       ment 
the  King,  "  mine  would  then  order  me  to  use  those  other  means 
which  God  has  put  into  my  hand."     The  threat,  however,  failed  to 
break  the  resistance  of  the  Commons,    and    the    ominous    words 
passed  into  a  settled  policy.     "  We  have  showed,"  said  a  proclama- 
tion which  followed  on  the  dissolution  of   the    Houses,   "  by  our 
frequent  meeting  our  people,  our  love  to  the  use  of  Parliament  ;   Mar.  1629 
yet,  the   late  abuse  having  for  the  present  driven  us  unwillingly 
out    of   that    course,  we  shall   account  it  presumption  for  any  to 
prescribe  any  time  unto  us  for  Parliament." 

No  Parliament  in  fact  met  for  eleven  years.  But  it  would  be  The 
unfair  to  charge  the  King  at  the  outset  of  this  period  with  any  *?%%££ 
definite  scheme  of  establishing;  a  tyranny,  or  of  chansnna-  what  he 
conceived  to  be  the  older  constitution  of  the  realm.  He  "  hated 
the  very  name  of  Parliaments,"  but  in  spite  of  his  hate  he  had  as 
yet  no  settled  purpose  of  abolishing  them.  His  belief  was  that 
England  would  in  time  recover  its  senses,  and  that  then  Parliament 
might  re-assemble  without  inconvenience  to  the  Crown.  In  the 
interval,  however  long  it  might  be,  he  proposed  to  govern  single- 
handed  by  the  use  of  "  those  means  which  God  had  put  into  his 
hands."     Resistance,  indeed,  he  was  resolved  to  put  down.     The 


io68 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


leaders  of  the  popular  party  in  the  last  Parliament  were  thrown 
into  prison  ;  and  Eliot  died,  the  first  martyr  of  English  liberty,  in 
the  Tower.  Men  were  forbidden  to  speak  of  the  reassembling  of  a 
Parliament.  But  here  the  King  stopped.  The  opportunity  which 
might  have  suggested  dreams  of  organized  despotism  to  a 
Richelieu,  suggested  only  means  of  filling  his  Exchequer  to 
Charles.     He   had    in    truth  neither  the  grander  nor  the  meaner 


In  [olehem  UaktQckndk  800  In  Stettin  aii^onimcnlrrlancfer 

orfer  Irren.    -=-— 


SCOTTISH    SOLDIERS    IN    SERVICE    OF    GUSTAVUS    ADOLPHUS,    163I. 
Contemporary  German  Broadside  in  British  Museum. 


Peace 


instincts  of  a  born  tyrant.  He  did  not  seek  to  gain  an  absolute 
power  over  his  people,  because  he  believed  that  his  absolute  power 
was  already  a  part  of  the  constitution  of  the  country.  He  set  up 
no  standing  army  to  secure  it,  partly  because  he  was  poor,  but  yet 
more  because  his  faith  in  his  position  was  such  that  he  never 
dreamed  of  any  effectual  resistance.  His  expedients  for  freeing 
the  Crown  from  that  dependence  on  Parliaments  against  which  his 
pride  as  a  sovereign  revolted  were  simply  peace  and  economy.     To 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1069 


secure  the  first  he  sacrificed  an  opportunity  greater  than  ever  his 
father  had  trodden  under  foot.     The  fortunes  of  the  great  struggle 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


GUSTAVUS    ADOLPHUS,    KING    OF    SWEDEN. 
From  an  engraving  by  Delff  after  a  picture  by  Miereveldt. 


in  Germany  were  suddenly  reversed  at  this  juncture  by  the 
appearance  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  with  a  Swedish  army,  in  the 
heart  of   Germany.     Tilly  was  defeated   and  slain  ;  the  Catholic 


ioyo  HISTORY  OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  v       League  humbled  in  the  dust  ;  Munich,  the  capital  of  its  Bavarian 
the        leader,  occupied  by  the  Swedish  army,  and  the  Lutheran  princes 

Personal 

Govern-     0f    North    Germany    freed    from    the    pressure    of    the    Imperial 

WENT  J  -1  x 

1629  soldiery  ;  while  the  Emperor  himself,  trembling  within  the  walls  of 

TO  ; 

1640  Vienna,  was  driven  to  call  for  aid  from  Wallenstein,  an  adventurer 
whose  ambition  he  dreaded,  but  whose  army  could  alone  arrest  the 
progress  of  the  Protestant  conqueror.  The  ruin  that  James  had 
wrought  was  suddenly  averted  ;  but  the  victories  of  Protestantism 
had  no  more  power  to  draw  Charles  out  of  the  petty  circle  of  his 
politics  at  home  than  its  defeats  had  had  power  to  draw  James  out 
of  the  circle  of  his  imbecile  diplomacy.  When  Gustavus,  on  the 
point  of  invading  Germany,  appealed  for  aid  to  England  and 
France,  Charles,  left  penniless  by  the  dissolution  of  Parliament, 
resolved  on  a  policy  of  peace,  withdrew  his  ships  from  the  Baltic, 

1630  and  opened  negotiations  with  Spain,  which  brought  about  a  treaty 
on  the  virtual  basis  of  an  abandonment  of  the  Palatinate.  Ill  luck 
clung  to  him  in  peace  as  in  war.  The  treaty  was  hardly  concluded 
when  Gustavus  began  his  wonderful  career  of  victory.  Charles 
strove  at  once  to  profit  by  his  success,  and  a  few  Scotch  and 
English  regiments  followed  Gustavus  in  his  reconquest  of  the 
Palatinate.  But  the  conqueror  demanded,  as  the  price  of  its 
restoration  to  Frederick,  that  Charles  should  again  declare  war 
upon  Spain  ;  and  this  was  a  price  that  the  King  would  not  pay, 
determined  as  he  was  not  to  plunge  into  a  combat  which  would 
again  force  him  to  summon  Parliament.  His  whole  attention  was 
absorbed  by  the  pressing  question  of  revenue.  The  debt  was  a 
large  one  ;  and  the  ordinary  income  of  the  Crown,  unaided  by 
parliamentary  supplies,  was  inadequate  to  meet  its  ordinary 
expenditure.  Charles  himself  was  frugal  and  laborious  ;  and  the 
economy  of  Weston,  the  new  Lord  Treasurer,  whom  he  made  Earl 
of  Portland,  contrasted  advantageously  with  the  waste  and 
extravagance  of  the  government  under  Buckingham.  But 
economy  failed  to  close  the  yawning  gulf  of  the  treasury,  and  the 
course  into  which  Charles  was  driven  by  the  financial  pressure 
showed  with  how  wise  a  prescience  the  Commons  had  fixed  on  the 
point  of  arbitrary  taxation  as  the  chief  danger  to  constitutional 
freedom. 

It  is  curious  to  see  to  what  shifts  the  royal  pride  was  driven  in 


tiii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  107 1 

, V 

its  effort  at  once  to  fill  the  Exchequer,  and  yet  to  avoid,  as  far  as       sec  v 
it  could,  any  direct  breach  of  constitutional  law  in  the  imposition         the 

Personal 

of  taxes  by  the  sole  authority  of  the  Crown.     The  dormant  powers     Ganmm- 
of  the  prerogative  were  strained  to  their  utmost.     The  right  of  the        1629 

TO 

Crown  to  force  knighthood  on   the  landed  gentry  was  revived,  in        1640 
order  to  squeeze  them  into  composition  for  the  refusal  of  it.     Fines       The 
were  levied  on  them  for  the  redress  of  defects  in  their  title-deeds.       Rufe** 
A  Commission  of  the  Forests  exacted  large  sums  from  the  neigh- 
bouring   landowners    for   their    encroachments    on    Crown    lands. 
London,    the    special  object  of  courtly  dislike,  on  account  of  its 
stubborn    Puritanism,    was    brought    within    the    sweep    of    royal 
extortion  by  the   enforcement    of  an  illegal  proclamation   which 
James  had  issued,  prohibiting  its  extension.     Every  house  through- 
out the  large  suburban  districts  in  which  the  prohibition  had  been 
disregarded   was  only  saved  from  demolition  by  the  payment  of 
three  years'  rental  to  the  Crown.     Though  the  Catholics  were  no 
longer  troubled  by  any  active  persecution,  and  the  Lord  Treasurer 
was    in  heart  a  Papist,  the  penury  of  the  Exchequer  forced  the 
Crown    to    maintain    the    old   system    of    fines    for    "  recusancy." 
Vexatious    measures    of  extortion    such    as    these    were    far    less 
hurtful  to  the  State  than  the  conversion  of  justice  into  a  means  of    The  Star 
supplying  the   royal    necessities  by  means  of  the   Star  Chamber.    Chamber 
The  jurisdiction  of  the  King's  Council  had  been  revived  by  Wolsey 
as  a  check  on  the  nobles  ;  and  it  had  received  great  developement, 
especially  on  the  side  of  criminal  law,  during  the  Tudor  reigns. 
Forgery,  perjury,  riot,  maintenance,  fraud,  libel,   and  conspiracy, 
were  the  chief  offences    cognizable    in    this    court,    but    its    scope 
extended  to  every  misdemeanour,  and  especially  to  charges  where, 
from    the    imperfection    of    the    common    law,    or    the    power    of 
offenders,  justice    was    baffled    in    the    lower   courts.     Its    process 
resembled  that  of  Chancery  :  in  State  trials  it  acted  on  an  informa- 
tion  laid   before  it  by  the  King's  Attorney.     Both  witnesses  and 
accused  were  examined  on  oath  by  special  interrogatories,  and  the 
Court  was  at  liberty  to  adjudge  any  punishment  short  of  death. 
However  distinguished  the  Star  Chamber  was  in  ordinary  cases  for 
the  learning  and  fairness  of  its  judgements,  in  political  trials  it  was 
impossible  to  hope  for  exact  and  impartial  justice  from  a  tribunal 
almost  entirely  composed  of  privy  councillors.     The  possession  of 


1072 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  V 

The 

Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 

Fines  and 
Monopolies 


such  a  weapon  would  have  been  fatal  to  liberty  under  a  great 
tyrant ;  under  Charles  it  was  turned  freely  to  the  profit  of  the 
Exchequer  and  the  support  of  arbitrary  rule.  Enormous  penalties 
were  exacted  for  opposition  to  the  royal  will,  and  though  the  fines 
imposed  were  often  remitted,  they  served  as  terrible  engines  of 
oppression.  Fines  such  as  these  however  affected  a  smaller  range 
of  sufferers  than  the  financial  expedient  to  which  Weston  had 
recourse  in  the  renewal  of  monopolies.  Monopolies,  abandoned  by 
Elizabeth,   and  extinguished  by  Act  of  Parliament  under  James, 


SATIRE    ON    ALDERMAX    ABEL,    MONOPOLIST    OF    WINES,    AND    HIS    WIFE. 

Broadside.  1641. 


were  again  set  on  foot,  and  on  a  scale  far  more  gigantic  than  had 
been  seen  before  ;  the  companies  who  undertook  them  paying  a 
fixed  duty  on  their  profits  as  well  as  a  large  sum  for  the  original 
concession  of  the  monopoly.  Wine,  soap,  salt,  and  almost  every 
article  of  domestic  consumption  fell  into  the  hands  of  monopolists, 
and  rose  in  price  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  profit  gained  by  the 
Crown.  ';  They  sup  in  our  cup,"  Colepepper  said  afterwards  in  the 
Long  Parliament,  "  they  dip  in  our  dish,  they  sit  by  our  fire  ;  we 
find  them  in  the  dye-fat,  the  wash  bowls,  and  the  powdering  tub. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


/  j 


They  share  with  the  cutler  in  his  box.  They  have  marked  and 
sealed  us  from  head  to  foot."  But  in  spite  of  these  expedients  the 
Treasury  would  have  remained  unfilled  had  not  the  King  persisted 
in  those  financial  measures  which  had  called  forth  the  protest  of 
the  Parliament.  The  exaction  of  customs  duties  went  on  as  of  old 
at  the  ports.  The  resistance  of  the  London  merchants  to  their 
payment  was  roughly  put  down  ;  and  one  of  them,  Chambers,  who 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 

Customs 


LONDON,    FROM    THE    RIVER. 

Early  Seventeenth  Century. 

Engraving'    by    C.    J.    Visscher. 


complained  bitterly  that  merchants  were  worse  off  in  England  than 
in  Turkey,  was  brought  before  the  Star  Chamber  and  ruined  by  a 
fine  of  two  thousand  pounds.  It  was  by  measures  such  as  these 
that  Charles  gained  the  bitter  enmity  of  the  great  city  whose 
strength  and  resources  were  fatal  to  him  in  the  coming  war.  The 
freeholders  of  the  counties  were  equally  difficult  to  deal  with.  On 
one  occasion,  when  those  of  Cornwall  were  called  together  at  Bod- 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


io75 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


min  to  contribute  to  a  voluntary  loan,  half  the  hundreds  refused, 
and  the  yield  of  the  rest  came  to  little  more  than  two  thousand 
pounds.  One  of  the  Cornishmen  has  left  an  amusing  record  of  the 
scene  which  took  place  before  the  Commissioners  appointed  for 
assessment  of  the  loan.  "  Some  with  great  words  and  threatenings, 
some  with  persuasions,"  he  says,  "  were  drawn  to  it.  I  was  like  to 
have  been  complimented  out  of  my  money  ;  but  knowing  with 
whom  I  had  to  deal,  I  held,  when  I  talked  with  them,  my  hands 
fast  in  my  pockets." 

By  such  means  as  these  the  debt  was  reduced,  and  the  annual     General 

Pros- 
revenue   of  the   Crown   increased.     Xor   was  there  much   sign   of     perity 

active  discontent.  Vexatious 
indeed  and  illegal  as  were 
the  proceedings  of  the  Crown, 
there  seems  in  these  earlier 
years  of  personal  rule  to  have 
been  little  apprehension  of 
any  permanent  danger  to 
freedom  in  the  country  at 
large.  To  those  who  read 
the  letters  of  the  time  there 
is  something  inexpressibly 
touching  in  the  general  faith 
of  their  writers  in  the  ulti- 
mate victory  of  the  Law. 
Charles  was  obstinate,  but 
obstinacy  was  too  common 
a  foible  amongst  Englishmen 
to  rouse  any  vehement  re- 
sentment. The  people  were 
as  stubborn  as  their  King, 
and  their  political  sense  told 
them  that  the  slightest  dis- 
turbance of  affairs  must  shake 
down      the      financial      fabric 

which  Charles  was  slowly  building  up,  and  force  him  back  on 
subsidies  and  a  Parliament.  Meanwhile  they  would  wait  for 
better  days,  and  their  patience  was  aided  by  the  general  prosperity 


AN     ENGLISH     KITCHENMAID. 
Hollar,   "  Ornatus  Mitliebris  Anglicamts." 


CHAP.   VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1077 


of  the  country.      The  great  Continental  wars  threw  wealth  into 
English    hands.      The    intercourse    between   Spain    and    Flanders 
was    carried    on    solely    in    English    ships,   and    the    English   flag 
covered  the  intercourse  between  Portuguese  ports  and  the  colonies 
in  Africa,  India,  and  the  Pacific.     The   long  peace  was  producing 
its    inevitable  results    in    an   extension   of  commerce    and    a    rise 
of  manufactures  in  the  towns 
of  the  West  Riding  of  York- 
shire.    Fresh  land  was  being 
brought  into  cultivation,  and  a 
great  scheme  was  set  on  foot 
for  reclaiming  the  Fens.     The 
new   wealth    of    the    country 
gentry,   through   the    increase 
of  rent,  was  seen  in  the  splen- 
dour of  the  houses  which  the}* 
were  raising.     The  contrast  of 
this  peace  and  prosperity  with 
the  ruin  and  bloodshed  of  the 
Continent  afforded  a  ready  ar- 
gument to  the  friends  of  the 
King's  system.      So    tranquil 
-was  the  outer  appearance  of 
the    country    that     in     Court 
circles  all  sense  of  danger  had 
disappeared.      "  Some   of  the 
greatest  statesmen  and   privy 
councillors,"  says  May,  "would 
ordinarily     laugh    when     the 
word,  '  liberty  of  the  subject,' 

was  named."  There  were  courtiers  bold  enough  to  express  their 
hope  that  "  the  King  would  never  need  any  more  Parjiaments."  But 
beneath  this  outer  calm  "  the  country,"  Clarendon  honestly  tells  us 
while  eulogizing  the  peace,  "'  was  full  of  pride  and  mutiny  and 
discontent."  Thousands  were  quitting  England  for  America.  The 
gentry  held  aloof  from  the  Court.  "  The  common  people  in  the 
generality  and  the  country  freeholders  would  rationally  argue  of 

their  own  rights  and  the  oppressions  which  were  laid  upon  them." 
Vol.  Ill — 10 


Ji*U<jicit J tit 


A    LADY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    COURT. 
Hollar,   "  Ornatus  Muliebris  Anglicanns"  1643. 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 

1640 


1078 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 

Went- 
worth 


If  Charles  was  content  to  deceive  himself,  there  was  one  man 
among  his  ministers  who  saw  that  the  people  were  right  in  their 
policy  of  patience,  and  that  unless  other  measures  were  taken  the 
fabric  of  despotism  would  fall  at  the  first  breath  of  adverse  fortune. 
Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  a  great  Yorkshire  landowner  and  one 
of  the  representatives  of  his  county,  had  stood  during  the  Parlia- 
ment of  1628  among  the  more  prominent  members  of  the  popular 

party  in  the  Commons.  But 
from  the  first  moment  of  his 
appearance  in  public  his  pas- 
sionate desire  had  been  to 
find  employment  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Crown.  At  the 
close  of  the  preceding  reign 
he  was  already  connected 
with  the  Court,  he  had  se- 
cured a  seat  in  Yorkshire  for 
one  of  the  royal  ministers, 
and  was  believed  to  be  on 
the  high  road  to  a  peerage. 
But  the  consciousness  of 
political  ability  which  spurred 
his  ambition  roused  the 
jealousy  of  Buckingham  ;  and 
the  haughty  pride  of  Went- 
worth was  flung  by  repeated 
slights  into  an  attitude  of 
opposition,  which  his  elo- 
quence— grander  in  its  sud- 
den outbursts,  though  less  earnest  and  sustained,  than  that 
of  Eliot — soon  rendered  formidable.  His  intrigues  at  Court 
roused  Buckingham  to  crush  by  a  signal  insult  the  rival  whose 
genius  he  instinctively  dreaded.  While  sitting  in  his  court  as 
sheriff  of  Yorkshire,  Wentworth  received  the  announcement  of  his 
dismissal  from  office,  and  of  the  gift  of  his  post  to  Sir  John  Savile, 
his  rival  in  the  county.  "  Since  they  will  thus  weakly  breathe  on 
me  a  seeming  disgrace  in  the  public  face  of  my  country,"  he  said 
with  a  characteristic  outburst  of  contemptuous  pride,  "  I  shall  crave 


AN    ENGLISH    LADY    IN    WINTER    DRESS. 
Hollar,  '■''Aula  Veneris"  1644. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1079 


leave  to  wipe  it  away  as  openly,  as  easily  !  "  His  whole  conception 
of  a  strong  and  able  rule  revolted  against  the  miserable  govern- 
ment of  the  favourite.  Wentworth's  aim  was  to  force  on  the  King, 
not  such  a  freedom  as  Eliot  longed  for,  but  such  a  system  as  the 
Tudors  had  clung  to,  where  a  large  and  noble  policy  placed  the 
sovereign  naturally  at  the  head  of  the  people,  and  where  Parlia- 
ments sank  into  mere  aids  to  the  Crown.  But  before  this  could  be, 
Buckingham  must  be  cleared  away.  It  was  with  this  end  that 
YYentworth  sprang  to  the  front  of  the  Commons  in  urging  the 
Petition  of  Right.  Whether  in  that  crisis  of  Wentworth's  life  some 
nobler  impulse,  some  true  passion  for  the  freedom  he  was  to 
trample  under  foot  mingled  with  his  thirst  for  revenge,  it  is  hard  to 
tell.  But  his  words  were  words  of  fire.  "  If  he  did  not  faithfully 
insist  for  the  common  liberty  of  the  subject  to  be  preserved  whole 
and  entire,"  it  was  thus  he  closed  one  of  his  speeches  on  the 
Petition,  "  it  was  his  desire  that  he  might  be  set  as  a  beacon  on 
a  hill  for  all  men  else  to  wonder  at." 

It  is  as  such  a  beacon  that  his  name  has  stood  from  that  time 
to  this.  The  death  of  Buckingham  had  no  sooner  removed  the 
obstacle  that  stood  between  his  ambition  and  the  end  at  which  it 
had  aimed  throughout,  than  the  cloak  of  patriotism  was  flung  by. 
Wentworth  was  admitted  to  the  royal  Council,  and  he  took  his 
seat  at  the  board  determined,  to  use  his  own  phrase,  to  "  vindicate 
the  Monarchy  for  ever  from  the  conditions  and  restraints  of 
subjects."  So  great  was  the  faith  in  his  zeal  and  power  which  he 
knew  how  to  breathe  into  his  royal  master  that  he  was  at  once 
raised  to  the  peerage,  and  placed  with  Laud  in  the  first  rank  of 
the  King's  councillors.  Charles  had  good  ground  for  this  rapid 
confidence  in  his  new  minister.  In  Wentworth,  or  as  he  is  known 
from  the  title  he  assumed  at  the  close  of  his  life,  in  the  Earl  of 
Strafford,  the  very  genius  of  tyranny  was  embodied.  If  he  shared 
his  master's  belief  that  the  arbitrary  power  which  Charles  was 
wielding  formed  part  of  the  old  constitution  of  the  country,  and 
that  the  Commons  had  gone  out  of  their  "  ancient  bounds  "  in 
limiting  the  royal  prerogative,  he  was  clear-sighted  enough  to  see 
that  the  only  way  of  permanently  establishing  absolute  rule  in 
England  was  not  by  reasoning,  or  by  the  force  of  custom,  but  by 
the  force  of  fear.     His  system  was  the  expression  of  his  own  inner 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


Went- 
worth as 
Minister 
1629 


io8o 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


temper  ;  and  the  dark  gloomy  countenance,  the  full  heavy  eye, 
which  meet  us  in  Strafford's  portrait  are  the  best  commentary  on 
his  policy  of  "  Thorough."  It  was  by  the  sheer  strength  of  his 
genius,  by  the  terror  his  violence  inspired  amid  the  meaner  men 
whom  Buckingham  had  left,  by  the  general  sense  of  his  power, 


LORD    STRAFFORD. 

Engraved  by  O.  Lacour,  after  the  picture  by   Vandyke  in  the  possession  of 
Sir  Philip  Grey-Egerton,  Bart.,  of  O niton  Park,  Cheshire. 


that  he  had  forced  himself  upon  the  Court.  He  had  none  of  the 
small  arts  of  a  courtier.  His  air  was  that  of  a  silent,  proud, 
passionate  man  ;  when  he  first  appeared  at  Whitehall  his  rough  un- 
courtly  manners  provoked  a  smile  in  the  royal  circle.  But  the 
smile  soon  died  into  a  general  hate.      The  Queen,  frivolous  and 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1081 


meddlesome  as  she  was,  detested  him  ;  his  fellow-ministers  intrigued 
against  him,  and  seized  on  his  hot  speeches  against  the  great  lords, 
his  quarrels  with  the  royal  household,  his  transports  of  passion  at 
the  very  Council-table,  to  ruin  him  in  his  master's  favour.  The 
King  himself,  while  steadily  supporting  him  against  his  rivals,  was 
utterly  unable  to  understand  his  drift.  Charles  valued  him  as  an 
administrator,  disdainful  of  private  ends,  crushing  great  and  small 
with  the  same  haughty  indifference  to  men's  love  or  hate,  and 
devoted  to  the  one  aim  of  building  up  the  power  of  the  Crown. 
But  in  his  purpose  of  preparing  for  the  great  struggle  with  freedom 
which  he  saw  before  him,  of  building  up  by  force  such  a  despotism 
in  England  as  Richelieu  was  building  up  in  France,  and  of  thus 
making  England  as  great  in  Europe  as  France  had  been  made  by 
Richelieu,  he  could  look  for  little  sympathy  and  less  help  from  the 
King. 

Wentworth's  genius  turned  impatiently  to  a  sphere  where  it 
could  act  alone,  untrammelled  by  the  hindrances  it  encountered  at 
home.  His  purpose  was  to  prepare  for  the  coming  contest  by  the 
provision  of  a  fixed  revenue,  arsenals,  fortresses,  and  a  standing 
army,  and  it  was  in  Ireland  that  he  resolved  to  find  them.  He  saw 
in  the  miserable  country  which  had  hitherto  been  a  drain  upon  the 
resources  of  the  Crown  the  lever  he  needed  for  the  overthrow  of 
English  freedom.  The  balance  of  Catholic  against  Protestant  in 
Ireland  might  be  used  to  make  both  parties  dependent  on  the 
royal  authority  ;  the  rights  of  conquest,  which  in  Wentworth's 
theory  vested  the  whole  land  in  the  absolute  possession  of  the 
Crown,  gave  him  a  large  field  for  his  administrative  ability  ;  and 
for  the  rest  he  trusted,  and  trusted  justly,  to  the  force  of  his  genius 
and  of  his  will.  In  1633  he  was  made  Lord  Deputy,  and  five  years 
later  his  aim  seemed  all  but  realized.  "  The  King,"  he  wrote  to 
Laud,  "  is  as  absolute  here  as  any  prince  in  the  world  can  be." 
Wentworth's  government  indeed  was  a  rule  of  terror.  Archbishop 
Usher,  with  almost  every  name  which  we  can  respect  in  the  island, 
was  the  object  of  his  insult  and  oppression.  His  tyranny  strode 
over  all  legal  bounds.  A  few  insolent  words,  construed  as  mutiny, 
were  enough  to  bring  Lord  Mountnorris  before  a  council  of  war, 
and  to  inflict  on  him  a  sentence  of  death.  But  his  tyranny  aimed 
at  public  ends,  and  in  Ireland  the  heavy  hand  of  a  single  despot 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


Went- 

worth  in 

Ireland 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1083 


delivered  the  mass  of  the  people  at  any  rate  from  the  local 
despotism  of  a  hundred  masters.  The  Irish  landowners  were  for 
the  first  time  made  to  feel  themselves  amenable  to  the  law.    Justice 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


JAMES    USHER,    ARCHBISHOP    OF    ARMAGH. 
From  an  engraving  by  George  Verttte  of  a  picture  by  Sir  Peter  Lely. 


was  enforced,  outrage  was  repressed,  the  condition  of  the  clergy 
was  to  some  extent  raised,  the  sea  was  cleared  of  the  pirates  who 
infested  it.     The  foundation  of  the  linen  manufacture  which  was 


1084 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  V 


to   bring    wealth    to   Ulster,   and  the   first   developement   of  Irish 
commerce,  date  from   the  Lieutenancy  of  Wentworth.     But  good 


The 

Personal 

government  was  only  a  means  with  him  for  further  ends.      The 


MENT 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


noblest  work  to  be  done  in  Ireland  was  the  bringing  about  a  re- 
conciliation between  Catholic  and  Protestant,  and  an  obliteration 
of  the  anger  and  thirst  for  vengeance  which  had  been  raised  by  the 
Ulster  Plantation.  Wentworth,  on  the  other  hand,  angered  the 
Protestants  by  a  toleration  of  Catholic  worship  and  a  suspension  of 
the  persecution  which  had  feebly  begun  against  the  priesthood, 
while  he  fed  the  irritation  of  the  Catholics  by  schemes  for  a 
Plantation  of  Connaught.  His  purpose  was  to  encourage  a  dis- 
union which  left  both  parties  dependent  for  support  and  protection 
on  the  Crown.  It  was  a  policy  which  was  to  end  in  bringing  about 
the  horrors  of  the  Irish  revolt,  the  vengeance  of  Cromwell,  and  the 
long  series  of  atrocities  on  both  sides  which  make  the  story  of  the 
country  he  ruined  so  terrible  to  tell.  But  for  the  hour  it  left 
Ireland  helpless  in  his  hands.  He  doubled  the  revenue.  He  re- 
organized the  army.  To  provide  for  its  support  he  ventured,  in 
1634  spite  of  the  panic  with  which  Charles  heard  his  project,  to  summon 
an  Irish  Parliament.  His  aim  was  to  read  a  lesson  to  England 
and  the  King,  by  showing  how  completely  that  dreaded  thing,  a 
Parliament,  could  be  made  the  organ  of  the  royal  will  ;  and  his 
success  was  complete.  Two-thirds,  indeed,  of  an  Irish  House  of 
Commons  consisted  of  the  representatives  of  wretched  villages,  the 
pocket-boroughs  of  the  Crown  ;  while  absent  peers  were  forced  to 
entrust  their  proxies  to  the  Council  to  be  used  at  its  pleasure.  But 
precautions  were  hardly  needed.  The  two  Houses  trembled  at  the 
stern  master  who  bade  their  members  not  let  the  King  "  find  them 
muttering,  or,  to  speak  it  more  truly,  mutinying  in  corners,"  and 
voted  with  a  perfect  docility  the  means  of  maintaining  an  army  of 
five  thousand  foot  and  five  hundred  horse.  Had  the  subsidy  been 
refused,  the  result  would  have  been  the  same.  "  I  would  under- 
take," wrote  Wentworth,  "  upon  the  peril  of  my  head,  to  make  the 
King's  army  able  to  subsist  and  provide  for  itself  among  them  with- 
out their  help." 
Charles  While    Wentworth    was    thus    working    out    his    system     of 

Scotland    "  Thorough "  on  one  side  of  St.  George's   Channel,   it  was  being 
carried    out  on  the  other  by  a  mind  inferior,  indeed,  to  his  own 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1085 


in  genius,  but  almost  equal   to   it  in   courage  and   tenacity.     On 
Weston's  death  in    1635,  Laud  became  virtually  first   minister  at 
the  English  Council-board.     We  have  already  seen  with  what  a 
reckless  and  unscrupulous  activity  he  was  crushing  Puritanism  in 
the  English  Church,  and  driving  Puritan  ministers  from  English 
pulpits  ;  and  in  this  work  his  new  position  enabled  him  to  back 
the  authority  of  the  High  Commission  by  the  terrors  of  the  Star 
Chamber.     It  was  a  work,  indeed,  which  to  Laud's  mind  was  at 
once  civil  and  religious  :  he  had  allied  the  cause  of  ecclesiastical 
organization    with  that  of  absolutism   in   the    State  ;    and,    while 
borrowing  the  power  of  the  Crown  to  crush  ecclesiastical  liberty, 
he  brought  the  influence  of  the  Church  to  bear  on  the  ruin  of  civil 
freedom.      But  his  power  stopped 
at    the    Scotch   frontier.      Across 
the    Border  stood   a  Church  with 
bishops     indeed,    but     without    a 
ritual,    modelled    on    the    doctrine 
and    system   of  Geneva,  Calvinist 
in    teaching  and   to    a    great    ex- 
tent   in    government.      The    mere 
existence  of  such  a  Church  gave 
countenance   to  English  Puritan- 
ism, and    threatened  in  any  hour 
of  ecclesiastical  weakness  to  bring 
a  dangerous  influence  to  bear  on 
the    Church    of    England.      With 

Scotland  indeed,  Laud  could  only  deal  indirectly  through  Charles, 
for  the  King  was  jealous  of  any  interference  of  his  English 
ministers  or  Parliament  with  his  Northern  Kingdom.  But  Charles 
was  himself  earnest  to  deal  with  it.  He  had  imbibed  his  father's 
hatred  of  all  that  tended  to  Presbyterianism,  and  from  the  outset 
of  his  reign  he  had  been  making  advance  after  advance  towards 
the  more  complete  establishment  of  Episcopacy.  To  understand, 
however,  what  had  been  done,  and  the  relations  which  had  by  this 
time  grown  up  between  Scotland  and  its  King,  we  must  take  up 
again  the  thread  of  its  history  which  we  broke  at  the  moment  when 
Mary  fled  for  refuge  over  the  English  border. 

After   a    few   years    of  wise    and    able   rule,    the    triumph    of 


STONE     CANDLESTICK,      1634,     IN 

FORM   OF   A   ROMAN   ALTAR. 

Antiquarian    Museum,    Edinbtirgh. 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


MAP     OF     MODERN     SCOTLAND. 


Walker  &■  lioutall  sc. 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


1087 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


Protestantism  under  the  Earl  of  Murray  had  been  interrupted  by 
his  assassination,  by  the  revival  of  the  Queen's  faction,  and  by  the 
renewal  of  civil  war.  The  next  regent,  the  child-king's  grand- 
father, was  slain  in  a  fray  ;  but  under  the  strong  hand  of  Morton 
the  land  won  a  short  breathing-space.     Edinburgh,  the  last  fortress 

held   in   Mary's   name,   surrendered   to   an   English   force  sent   bv    Scotland 

.    /      and  the 
Elizabeth  ;  and  its  captain,  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange,  was  hanged  for     Stuarts 

treason  in  the  market-place  ;  while  the  stern  justice  of  Morton  *572 
forced  peace  upon  the  war- 
ring lords.  The  people  of 
the  Lowlands,  indeed,  were 
now  stanch  for  the  new 
faith  ;  and  the  Protestant 
Church  rose  rapidly  after 
the  death  of  Knox  into  a 
power  which  appealed  at 
every  critical  juncture  to 
the  deeper  feelings  of  the 
nation  at  large.  In  the 
battle  with  Catholicism  the 
bishops  had  clung  to  the  old 
religion  ;  and  the  new  faith, 
left  without  episcopal  inter- 
ference, and  influenced  by 
the  Genevan  training  of 
Knox,  borrowed  from  Cal- 
vin its  model  of  Church 
government,  as  it  borrowed 
its  theology.  The  system  of 
Presbyterianism,  as  it  grew 

up  at  the  outset  without  direct  recognition  from  the  law,  not  only 
bound  Scotland  together  as  it  had  never  been  bound  before  bv 
its  administrative  organization,  its  church  synods  and  general 
assemblies,  but  by  the  power  it  gave  the  lay  elders  in  each 
congregation,  and  by  the  summons  of  laymen  in  an  overpowering 
majority  to  the  earlier  Assemblies,  it  called  the  people  at  large  to 
a  voice,  and  as  it  proved,  a  decisive  voice,  in  the  administration  of 
affairs.     If  its  government  by  ministers  gave  it  the  outer  look  of 


A    SCOTCHWOMAN. 

Temp.  Charles  I. 

IV.  Hollar,  t:  Ornatus  Miiliebris  Anglicanus"  1649. 


io88 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 

1640 


1577 


Andrew 
Melville 


an  ecclesiastical  despotism,  no  Church  constitution  has  proved  in 
practice  so  democratic  as  that  of  Scotland.     Its  influence  in  raising 
the  nation  at  large  to  a  consciousness  of  its  own  power  is  shown  by 
the  change  which  passes,  from  the  moment  of  its  final  establish- 
ment, over  the  face  of  Scotch  history.     The  sphere  of  action  to 
which  it  called  the  people  was  in  fact  not  a  mere  ecclesiastical  but 
a  national  sphere  ;  and  the  power  of  the  Church  was  felt  more  and 
more  over  nobles  and  King.     When  after  five  years  the  union  of 
his  rivals  put  an  end  to  Morton's  regency,  the  possession  of  the 
young  sovereign,  James  the  Sixth,  and  the  exercise  of  the  royal 
authority  in  his  name,  became  the  constant  aim  of  the  factions  who 
were  tearing  Scotland  to  pieces.      As  James  grew  to   manhood, 
however,  he  was  strong  enough  to  break  the  yoke  of  the  lords,  and 
to  become  master  of  the  great  houses  that  had  so  long  overawed 
the  Crown.     But  he   was  farther  than  ever  from  being  absolute 
master  of  his  realm.     Amidst  the  turmoil  of  the   Reformation   a 
new  force  had  come  to  the  front.     This  was  the  Scotch  people 
which  had  risen  into  being  under  the  guise  of  the  Scotch   Kirk. 
Melville,  the  greatest  of  the  successors  of  Knox,  claimed  for  the 
ecclesiastical    body   an  independence  of  the   State  which  James 
hardly  dared  to  resent,  while  he  struggled  helplessly  beneath  the 
sway    which    public    opinion,     expressed    through    the    General 
Assembly  of  the  Church,  exercised  over  the  civil  government.      In 
the   great  crisis  of  the  Armada  his  hands  were  fettered  by   the 
league  with  England  which  it  forced  upon  him.     The  democratic 
boldness  of  Calvinism  allied  itself  with  the  spiritual  pride  of  the 
Presbyterian  ministers  in  their  dealings  with  the  Crown.      Melville 
in  open  council  took  James  by  the  sleeve,  and  called  him  "  God's 
silly  vassal."      "  There  are  two  Kings,"  he  told    him,    "  and   two 
kingdoms  in  Scotland.     There  is  Christ  Jesus  the  King,  and  His 
Kingdom  the  Kirk,  whose  subject  James  the  Sixth  is,  and  of  whose 
kingdom  not  a  king,  nor  a  lord,  nor  a  head,  but  a  member."      The 
words   and  tone  of  the  great  preacher  were  bitterly  remembered 
when  James  mounted  the  English  throne.     "  A  Scottish   Presby- 
tery,"   he    exclaimed    years    afterwards    at    the    Hampton    Court 
Conference,  "  as  well  fitteth  with  Monarchy  as  God  and  the  Devil  ! 
No   Bishop,    no    King ! "      But    Scotland    was    resolved    on    "  no 
bishop."       Episcopacy   had    become    identified    among   the    more 


vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1089 

zealous  Scotchmen  with  the  old  Catholicism  they  had  shaken  off.       Sec.  v 
When  he  appeared  at  a  later  time  before  the  English  Council-table,        The 

r ERSON AL 

Melville  took  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  by  the  sleeves  of  his     c-overn- 
rochet,  and,  shaking  them  in  his  manner,  called  them  Romish  rags,        1629 

"TO 

and  marks  of  the  Beast.     Four  years  therefore  after  the  ruin  of       1640 
the  Armada,  Episcopacy  was  formally  abolished,  and  the  Presby-     Presby- 

t€  tx  cz  71  is  tyt 

terian  system  established  by  law  as  the  mode   of  government  of  established 
the  Church  of  Scotland.     The  rule  of  the  Church  was  placed  in  a       J592 
General  Assembly,  with   subordinate  Provincial   Synods,   Presby- 
teries, and  Kirk  Sessions,  by  which  its  discipline  was  carried  down 
to  every  member  of  a  congregation.     All  that  James  could  save 
was   the  right  of  being  present  at  the  General  Assembly,  and  of 
fixing  a  time  and  place  for  its  annual  meeting.     But  James  had  no 
sooner   succeeded  to    the  English  throne  than   he   used   his   new 
power  in  a  struggle  to  undo  the  work  which  had  been  done.      In 
spite  of  his  assent  to  an  act  legalizing  its  annual  convention,  he 
hindered  any  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  for  five  successive 
years  by  repeated  prorogations.      The  protests  of  the  clergy  were 
roughly  met.     When  nineteen  ministers  constituted  themselves  an       1605 
Assembly  they  were  banished  as  traitors  from  the  realm.     Of  the 
leaders  who  remained  the  boldest  were  summoned   with  Andrew       1606 
Melville  to  confer  with  the  King  in   England  on  his  projects  of 
change.     On  their  refusal   to  betray  the   freedom  of  the  Church 
they  were  committed  to  prison  ;  and  an  epigram  which  Melville 
wrote  on  the  usages  of  the  English  communion  was  seized  on  as  a 
ground  for  bringing  him  before  the  English  Privy  Council.     He 
was  sent  to  the  Tower,  and  released  after  some  years  of  imprison- 
ment only  to  go  into  exile.      Deprived  of  their  leaders,  threatened 
with  bonds  and  exile,  deserted  by  the  nobles,  ill  supported  as  yet 
by  the  mass  of  the  people,  the  Scottish  ministers  bent  before  the 
pressure  of  the  Crown.     Bishops  were  allowed  to  act  as  presidents 
in  their  synods  ;  and  episcopacy  was  at  last  formally  recognized  in     Episco- 
the   Scottish  Church.       The   pulpits  were  bridled.     The  General     r£tored 
Assembly  was  brought  to  submission.      The  ministers  and  elders       1610 
were  deprived  of  their  right  of  excommunicating  offenders,   save 
with  a  bishop's  sanction.     A  Court  of  High  Commission  enforced 
the  Supremacy  of  the  Crown.      But  with  this  assertion  of  his  royal 
authority  James  was  content.      His  aim  was  political  rather  than 


1090 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  V 

The 

Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 

Laud 
and  the 

Scotch 
Church 


religious,  and  in  seizing  on  the  control  of  the  Church  through  his 
organized  prelacy,  he  held  himself  to  have  won  back  that  mastery 
of  his  realm  which  the  Reformation  had  reft  from  the  Scottish 
Kings.  The  earlier  policy  of  Charles  followed  his  father's  line  of 
action.  It  effected  little  save  a  partial  restoration  of  Church-lands, 
which  the  lords  were  forced  to  surrender.  But  Laud's  vigorous 
action  soon  made  itself  felt.     His  first  acts  were  directed  rather  to 


S^to 


TRAQUAIR    CASTLE,    PEEBLESSHIRE. 
Built  c.  1635. 


1633 


points  of  outer  observance  than  to  any  attack  on  the  actual  fabric 
of  Presbyterian  organization.  The  Estates  were  induced  to 
withdraw  the  control  of  ecclesiastical  apparel  from  the  Assembly, 
and  to  commit  it  to  the  Crown  ;  a  step  soon  followed  by  a 
resumption  of  their  episcopal  costume  on  the  part  of  the  Scotch 
bishops.  When  the  Bishop  of  Moray  preached  before  Charles  in 
his  rochet,  on  the  King's  visit  to  Edinburgh,  it  was  the  first 
instance  of  its  use  since  the  Reformation.     The  innovation  was 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1091 


followed  by  the  issue  of  a  royal  warrant  which  directed  all  ministers 
to  use  the  surplice  in  divine  worship.  From  costume,  however, 
the  busy  minister  soon  passed  to  weightier  matters.  Many  years 
had  gone  by  since  he  had  vainly  invited  James  to  draw  his  Scotch 
subjects  "  to  a  nearer  conjunction  with  the  liturgy  and  canons  of 
this  nation."  "  I  sent  him  back  again,"  said  the  shrewd  old  King, 
"  with  the  frivolous  draft  he  had  drawn.  For  all  that,  he  feared 
not  my  anger,  but  assaulted  me  again  with  another  ill-fangled 
platform  to  make  that  stubborn  Kirk  stoop  more  to  the  English 
platform  ;  but  I  durst  not  play  fast  and  loose  with  my  word.  He 
knows  not  the  stomach  of  that  people."  But  Laud  knew  how  to 
wait,  and  his  time  had  come  at  last.  He  was  resolved  to  put  an 
end  to  the  Presbyterian  character  of  the  Scotch  Church  altogether, 
and  to  bring  it  to  a  uniformity  with  the  Church  of  England.  A 
book  of  canons  issued  by  the  sole  authority  of  the  King  placed 
the  government  of  the  Church  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  its 
bishops  ;  no  Church  Assembly  might  be  summoned  but  by  the 
King,  no  alteration  in  worship  or  discipline  introduced  but  by  his 
permission.  As  daring  a  stretch  of  the  prerogative  superseded 
what  was  known  as  Knox's  Liturgy — the  book  of  Common  Order 
drawn  up  on  the  Genevan  model  by  that  Reformer,  and  generally 
used  throughout  Scotland — by  a  new  Liturgy  based  on  the 
English  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  The  Liturgy  and  canons  drawn 
up  by  four  Scottish  bishops  were  laid  before  Laud  ;  in  their 
composition  the  General  Assembly  had  neither  been  consulted  nor 
recognized  ;  and  taken  together  they  formed  the  code  of  a  political 
and  ecclesiastical  system  which  aimed  at  reducing  Scotland  to  an 
utter  subjection  to  the  Crown.  To  enforce  them  on  the  land  was 
to  effect  a  revolution  of  the  most  serious  kind.  The  books 
however  were  backed  by  a  royal  injunction,  and  Laud  flattered 
himself  that  the  revolution  had  been  wrought. 

Triumphant  in  Scotland,  with  the  Scotch  Church — as  he 
fancied — at  his  feet,  Laud's  hand  still  fell  heavily  on  the  English 
Puritans.  There  were  signs  of  a  change  of  temper  which  might 
have  made  even  a  bolder  man  pause.  Thousands  of  "the  best," 
scholars,  merchants,  lawyers,  farmers,  were  flying  over  the  Atlantic 
to  seek  freedom  and  purity  of  religion  in  the  wilderness.  Great 
landowners  and  nobles  were  preparing  to  follow.     Ministers  were 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal. 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


1636 


The  new 
Liturgy 


Milton 

at 
Horton 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1093 


quitting  their  parsonages  rather  than  abet  the  royal  insult  to  the 
sanctity  of  the  Sabbath.  The  Puritans  who  remained  among  the 
clergy  were  giving  up  their  homes  rather  than  consent  to  the 
change  of  the  sacred  table  into  an  altar,  or  to  silence  in  their  pro- 
tests against  the  new  Popery.  The  noblest  of  living  Englishmen 
refused  to  become  the  priest  of  a  Church  whose  ministry  could 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


JOHN     MILTON,    AGED   TWENTY-ONE. 
From  Verities  engraving,  1731,  0/  a  picture  then  in  the  possession  of  Speaker  Onslow. 


only  be  "  bought  with  servitude  and  forswearing."  We  have  seen 
John  Milton  leave  Cambridge,  self-dedicated  "  to  that  same  lot, 
however  mean  or  high,  to  which  time  leads  me  and  the  will  of 
Heaven."  But  the  lot  to  which  these  called  him  was  not  the 
ministerial  office  to  which  he  had  been  destined  from  his  childhood. 
In  later  life  he  told  bitterly  the  story,  how  he  had  been  "  Church- 
outed  by  the  prelates."  "  Coming  to  some  maturity  of  years,  and 
Vol.  Ill— 11 


io94  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  v      perceiving  what  tyranny  had  invaded  in  the  Church,  that  he  who 
the       would  take  orders  must  subscribe  slave,  and  take  an  oath  withal, 

Personal 

Govern-     which  unless  he  took  with  a  conscience  that  would  retch  he  must 

MENT 

1629       either  straight  perjure  or  split  his  faith,  I  thought  it  better  to  pre- 

TO 

1640  fer  a  blameless  silence  before  the  sacred  office  of  speaking,  bought 
1633  and  begun  with  servitude  and  forswearing."  In  spite  therefore  of 
his  father's  regrets,  he  retired  to  a  new  home  which  the  scrivener 
had  found  at  Horton,  a  village  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Windsor, 
and  quietly  busied  himself  with  study  and  verse.  The  poetic 
impulse  of  the  Renascence  had  been  slowly  dying  away  under  the 
Stuarts.  The  stage  was  falling  into  mere  coarseness  and  horror  ; 
Shakspere  had  died  quietly  at  Stratford  in  Milton's  childhood  ; 
the  last  and  worst  play  of  Ben  Jonson  appeared  in  the  year  of 
his  settlement  at  Horton  ;  and  though  Ford  and  Massinger  still 
lingered  on  there  were  no  successors  for  them  but  Shirley  and 
Davenant.  The  philosophic  and  meditative  taste  of  the  age  had 
produced  indeed  poetic  schools  of  its  own  :  poetic  satire  had 
become  fashionable  in  Hall,  better  known  afterwards  as  a  bishop, 
and  had  been  carried  on  vigorously  by  George  Wither  ;  the  so- 
called  "  metaphysical  "  poetry,  the  vigorous  and  pithy  expression 
of  a  cold  and  prosaic  good  sense,  began  with  .Sir  John  Davies,  and 
buried  itself  in  fantastic  affectations  in  Donne  ;  religious  verse  had 
become  popular  in  the  gloomy  allegories  of  Ouarles  and  the  tender 
refinement  which  struggles  through  a  jungle  of  puns  and  ex- 
travagances in  George  Herbert.  But  what  poetic  life  really  re- 
mained was  to  be  found  only  in  the  caressing  fancy  and  lively 
badinage  of  lyric  singers  like  Herrick,  whose  grace  is  untouched 
by  passion  and  often  disfigured  by  coarseness  and  pedantry  ;  or  in 
the  school  of  Spenser's  more  direct  successors,  where  Browne  in  his 
pastorals,  and  the  two  Fletchers,  Phineas  and  Giles,  in  their  un- 
readable allegories,  still  preserved  something  of  their  master's 
His  early  sweetness,  if  they  preserved  nothing  of  his  power.  Milton  was 
himself  a  Spenserian  ;  he  owned  to  Dryden  in  later  years  <;  that 
Spenser  was  his  original,"  and  in  some  of  his  earliest  lines  at  Horton 
he  dwells  lovingly  on  "  the  sage  and  solemn  tones  "  of  the  "  Faerie 
Queen,"  its  "  forests  and  enchantments  drear,  where  more  is  meant 
than  meets  the  ear."  But  of  the  weakness  and  affectation  which 
characterized   Spenser's   successors   he  had   not  a  trace.      In   the 


VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


io95 


"Allegro"  and  "  Penseroso,"  the  first  results  of  his  retirement  at 
Horton,  we  catch  again  the  fancy  and  melody  of  the  Elizabethan 
verse,  the  wealth  of  its  imagery,  its  wide  sympathy  with  nature  and     Govern 

KENT 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 


1629 

TO 
I64O 


FIGURES    DESIGNED     BY    INIGO    JONES    FOR     A    MASQUE. 


man.  There  is  a  loss,  perhaps,  of  the  older  freedom  and  spontaneity 
of  the  Renascence,  a  rhetorical  rather  than  passionate  turn  in  the 
young  poet,  a  striking  absence  of  dramatic  power,  and  a  want  of 


1096 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


subtle  precision  even  in  his  picturesque  touches.  Milton's  imagin- 
ation is  not  strong  enough  to  identify  him  with  the  world  which  he 
imagines  ;  he  stands  apart  from  it,  and  looks  at  it  as  from  a  dis- 
tance, ordering  it  and  arranging  it  at  his  will.  But  if  in  this 
respect  he  falls,  both  in  his  earlier  and  later  poems,  far  below 
Shakspere  or  Spenser,  the  deficiency  is  all  but  compensated  by  his 
nobleness  of  feeling  and  expression,  the  severity  of  his  taste,  his 
sustained    dignity,    and    the    perfectness    and  completeness  of  his 


LUDLOW    CASTLE    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY. 
T.  Dineley.   "Progress  of  the  Duke  of  Beaufort  through   Wales,"  1684. 


1634 


Hampden 
and  Ship- 
money 


work.  The  moral  grandeur  of  the  Puritan  breathes,  even  in  these 
lighter  pieces  of  his  youth,  through  every  line.  The  "  Comus," 
planned  as  a  masque  for  the  festivities  which  the  Earl  of  Bridge- 
water  was  holding  at  Ludlow  Castle,  rises  into  an  almost  im- 
passioned pleading  for  the  love  of  virtue. 

The  historic  interest  of  Milton's  "  Comus "  lies  in  its  forming 
part  of  a  protest  made  by  the  more  cultured  Puritans  at  this  time 
against  the  gloomier  bigotry  which  persecution  was  fostering  in 
the    party   at   large.     The    patience   of  Englishmen,  in  fact,  was 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1097 


slowly  wearing  out.  There  was  a  sudden  upgrowth  of  virulent 
pamphlets  of  the  old  Martin  Marprelate  type.  Men,  whose  names 
no  one  asked,  hawked  libels,  whose  authorship  no  one  knew,  from 
the  door  of  the  tradesman  to  the  door  of  the  squire.  As  the  hopes 
of  a  Parliament  grew  fainter,  and  men  despaired  of  any  legal 
remedy,  violent  and  weak-headed  fanatics  came,  as  at  such  times 
they  always  come,  to  the  front.  Leighton,  the  father  of  the  saintly 
Archbishop  of  that  name,  had  given  a  specimen  of  their  tone  at  the 
outset  of  this  period,  by  denouncing  the  prelates  as  men  of  blood, 
Episcopacy  as  Antichrist,  and  the  Popish  queen  as  a  daughter  of 
Heth.  The  :'  Histrio-mastix  "  of  Prynne,  a  lawyer  distinguished 
for  his  constitutional  know- 
ledge, but  the  most  obstinate 
and  narrow-minded  of  men, 
marked  the  deepening  of  Puri- 
tan bigotry  under  the  fostering 
warmth  of  Laud's  persecution. 
The  book  was  an  attack  on 
players  as  the  ministers  of 
Satan, on  theatres  as  the  devil's 
chapels,  on  hunting,  may- 
poles, the  decking  of  houses  at 
Christmas  with  evergreens,  on 
cards,  music,  and  false  hair. 
The  attack  on  the  stage  was  as 
offensive  to  the  more  cultured 
minds  among  the  Puritan 
party  as  to  the  Court  itself; 
Selden  and  Whitelock  took  a 

prominent  part  in  preparing  a  grand  masque  by  which  the 
Inns  of  Court  resolved  to  answer  its  challenge,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  Milton  wrote  his  masque  of  "  Comus "  for  Ludlow 
Castle.  To  leave  Prynne,  however,  simply  to  the  censure  of  wiser 
men  than  himself  was  too  sensible  a  course  for  the  angry  Primate. 
Xo  man  was  ever  sent  to  prison  before  or  since  for  such  a  sheer 
mass  of  nonsense  ;  but  a  passage  in  the  book  was  taken  as  a  re- 
flection on  the  Queen,  and  his  sentence  showed  the  hard  cruelty  of 
the  Primate.     Prynne  was  dismissed  from  the  bar,  deprived  of  his 


JOHN      PR  Y  N  N  E. 
After  IV.  Hollar. 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 

1640 


1633 


CO 

s 

Cfl 

M    8 

W 

c  <i 

** 

>;  *s 

O 

JZ 

w 

t> 

f> 

— 1 

a  t 

f/J 

<i 

» 

'3   S 

a 

8 

rri 

<a 

O 

chap,  viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1099 

university  degree,  and  set  in  the   pillory.     His  ears  were  clipped      sec.  v 
from  his  head,  and  he  was  taken  back  to  prison.     But  the  storm  of        the 

Personal 

popular    passion    which    was    gathering    was    not    so    pressing    a     Govhrm- 
difficulty  to  the  royal  ministers  at  this  time  as  the  old  difficulty  of       1629 

TO 

the  exchequer.  The  ingenious  devices  of  the  Court  lawyers,  the  1640 
revived  prerogatives,  the  illegal  customs,  the  fines  and  confiscations 
which  were  alienating  one  class  after  another  and  sowing  in  home 
after  home  the  seeds  of  a  bitter  hatred  to  the  Crown,  were  in- 
sufficient to  meet  the  needs  of  the  Treasury  ;  and  new  exactions 
were  necessary,  at  a  time  when  the  rising  discontent  made  every 
new  exaction  a  challenge  to  revolt.  A  fresh  danger  had  suddenly 
appeared  in  an  alliance  of  France  and  Holland  which  threatened 
English  dominion  over  the  Channel  ;  and  there  were  rumours  of  a 
proposed  partition  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands  between  the  two 
powers.  It  was  necessary  to  put  a  strong  fleet  on  the  seas  ;  and 
the  money  which  had  to  be  found  at  home  was  procured  by  a 
stretch  of  the  prerogative  which  led  afterwards  to  the  great  contest  $hip- 
over  ship-money.  The  legal  research  of  Nov,  one  of  the  law  money 
officers  of  the  Crown,  found  precedents  among  the  records  in  the 
Tower  for  the  provision  of  ships  for  the  King's  use  by  the  port- 
towns  of  the  kingdom,  and  for  the  furnishing  of  their  equipment 
by  the  maritime  counties.  The  precedents  dated  from  times  when 
no  permanent  fleet  existed,  and  when  sea  warfare  was  waged  by 
vessels  lent  for  the  moment  by  the  various  ports.  But  they  were 
seized  as  a  means  of  equipping  a  permanent  navy  without  cost  to 
the  exchequer  ;  the  first  demand  for  ships  was  soon  commuted  into 
a  demand  of  money  for  the  payment  of  ships  ;  and  the  writs  which 
were  issued  to  London  and  the  chief  English  ports  were  enforced 
by  fine  and  imprisonment.  When  Laud  took  the  direction  of 
affairs  a  more  vigorous  and  unscrupulous  impulse  made  itself  felt. 
To  Laud  as  to  Wentworth,  indeed,  the  King  seemed  over-cautious, 
the  Star  Chamber  feeble,  the  judges  over-scrupulous.  "  I  am  for 
Thorough,"  the  one  writes  to  the  other  in  alternate  fits  of  im- 
patience at  the  slow  progress  they  are  making.  Wentworth  was 
anxious  that  his  good  work  might  not  "  be  spoiled  on  that  side." 
Laud  echoed  the  wish,  while  he  envied  the  free  course  of  the  Lord 
Lieutenant.  "  You  have  a  good  deal  of  honour  here,"  he  writes, 
"  for  your  proceeding.     Go  on  a'  God's  name.     I  have  done  with 


1634 


IIOO 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 

Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 

The  new 
Ship- 
money 

1635 


expecting  of  Thorough  on  this  side."  The  financial  pressure  was 
seized  by  both  to  force  the  King  on  to  a  bolder  course.  "  The 
debt  of  the  Crown  being  taken  off/'  Wentworth  urged,  "  you  may 
govern  at  your  will."  All  pretence  of  precedents  was  thrown 
aside,  and  Laud  resolved  to  find  a  permanent  revenue  in  the  con- 
version of  the  "  ship-money,"  till  now  levied  on  ports  and  the 
maritime  counties,  into  a  general  tax  imposed  by  the  royal  will 


JOHN     HAMPDEN. 
Portrait  in  the  collection  of  the  Earl  of  St.  Germans,  at  Fort  Eliot. 


upon  the  whole  country.  "  I  know  no  reason,"  Wentworth  had 
written  significantly,  "  but  you  may  as  well  rule  the  common 
lawyers  in  England  as  I,  poor  beagle,  do  here  ;  "  and  the  judges  no 
sooner  declared  the  new  impost  to  be  legal  than  he  drew  the 
logical  deduction  from  their  decision.  "  Since  it  is  lawful  for  the 
King  to  impose  a  tax  for  the  equipment  of  the  navy,  it  must  be 
equally  so  for  the  levy  of  an  army  :  and  the  same  reason  which 


vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  iioi 

authorizes  him  to  levy  an  army  to  resist,  will  authorize  him  to  carry       3   -  v 
that  army  abroad  that  he  mav  prevent  invasion.      Moreover  what     _  The 

J  J   r  Per- 

is    law    in    England   is   law   also  in   Scotland    and    Ireland.     The  g„e"t"" 
decision  of  the  judges  will  therefore  make  the  King  absolute  at        l629 
home  and  formidable  abroad.      Let  him  only  abstain  from  war  for       1640 
a  few  years  that  he  may  habituate  his  subjects  to  the  pavment  of       The 

Resist- 
that  tax,  and  in  the  end  he  will  find  himself  more  powerful  and  re-       ance 

spected  than  any   of  his  predecessors."     But  there  were  men  who 

saw  the  danger  to  freedom  in  this  levy  of  ship-money  as  clearly  as 

Wentworth  himself.     The  bulk  of  the  country  party  abandoned  all 

hope    of   English    freedom.     There   was   a  sudden   revival   of  the 

emigration  to  New  England  ;  and  men  of  blood  and   fortune  now 

prepared    to    seek    a    new    home    in    the    West.      Lord    Warwick 

secured  the  proprietorship  of  the  Connecticut  valley.     Lord  Save 

and    Sele    and    Lord   Brooke  began   negotiations  for  transporting 

themselves    to    the    New    World.      Oliver  Cromwell  is  said,  by  a 

doubtful  tradition,  to  have  only  been  prevented  from  crossing  the 

seas    by    a  royal    embargo.      It    is    more    certain    that    Hampden 

purchased  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Xarragansett.     John  Hampden,  a 

friend  of  Eliot's,  a  man  of  consummate  ability,  of  unequalled  power 

of  persuasion,  of  a  keen  intelligence,  ripe  learning,  and  a  character 

singularly  pure  and  loveable,  had  already  shown  the  firmness  of  his 

temper  in  his  refusal  to  contribute  to  the  forced  loan  of  1627.     He 

now  repeated  his  refusal,  declared  ship-money  an  illegal  impost  Jan.  1636 

and  resolved  to  rouse  the  spirit  of  the  country  by  an  appeal  for 

protection  to  the  law. 

The  news  of   Hampden's  resistance  thrilled   through  England 

at  a  moment  when   men  were  roused  by  the  news  of  resistance  in 

the  north.     The  patience  of  Scotland  had  found  an   end  at   last. 

While  England  was  waiting  for  the  opening   of  the  great  cause  of 

ship-money,  peremptory  orders  from  the  King  forced  the  clergy  of 

Edinburgh  to  introduce  the  new  service  into  their  churches.       But 

the  Prayer  Book  was  no  sooner  opened  at  the  church  of  St.  Giles's    juiy  2$ 

than    a  murmur  ran    through  the  congregation,  and  the  murmur 

soon  grew  into  a  formidable  riot.    The  church  was  cleared,  and  the 

service  read  ;  but  the   rising   discontent  frightened  the  judges  into 

a  decision  that  the  royal  writ  enjoined  the  purchase,  and  not  the 

use,  of  the  Prayer  Book.     Its  use  was  at  once  discontinued,  and  the 


I  102 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  V 

The 

Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


angry  orders  which  came 
from  England  for  its  re- 
storation were  met  by  a 
shower  of  protests  from 
every  part  of  Scotland.  The 
Duke  of  Lennox  alone  took 
sixty-eight  petitions  with 
him  to  the  cqurt ;  while 
ministers,  nobles,  and  gen- 
try poured  into  Edinburgh 
to  organize  the  national 
resistance.  The  effect  of 
these  events  in  Scotland 
was  at  once  seen  in  the 
open  demonstration  of  dis- 
content south  of  the  border. 
The  prison  with  which  Laud 
had  rewarded  Prynne's 
bulky  quarto  had  tamed  his  spirit 
written    within    its    walls    attacked 


HENRY     BURTON. 
After  W.  Hollar. 


JOHN     BASTWICK. 
After  IV.  Hollar. 

so  little  that  a  new  tract 
the  bishops  as  devouring 
wolves  and  lords  of  Lucifer. 
A  fellow-prisoner,  John 
Bastwick,  declared  in  his 
"  Litany  "  that  "  Hell  was 
broke  loose,  and  the  Devils 
in  surplices,  hoods,  copes, 
and  rochets,  were  come 
among  us."  Burton,  a 
London  clergyman  silenced 
by  the  High  Commission, 
called  on  all  Christians  to 
resist  the  bishops  as  "  rob- 
bers of  souls,  limbs  of 
the  Beast,  and  factors  of 
Antichrist."  Raving  of  this 
sort  might  have  been 
passed  by  had  not  the 
general     sympathy     shown 


vin  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1103 

how    fast     the    storm    of    popular    passion    was     rising.       Prynne       Sec.  v 
and   his    fellow  pamphleteers,  when    Laud    dragged    them    before        The 
the   Star  Chamber   as  "  trumpets   of   sedition,"   listened   with    de-     govern- 

i  MENT 

fiance  to  their  sentence  of  exposure  in  the  pillory  and  imprison-  1629 
ment  for  life  ;  and  the  crowd  who  filled  Palace  Yard  to  witness  1640 
their  punishment  groaned  at  the  cutting  off  of  their  ears,  and 
"gave  a  great  shout"  when  Prynne  urged  that  the  sentence  on 
him  was  contrary  to  the  law.  A  hundred  thousand  Londoners 
lined  the  road  as  they  passed  on  the  way  to  prison  ;  and  the 
journey  of  these  "  Martyrs,"  as  the  spectators  called  them,  was 
like  a  triumphal  progress.  Startled  as  he  was  at  the  sudden 
burst  of  popular  feeling,  Laud  remained  dauntless  as  ever- 
Prynne's  entertainers  as  he  passed  through  the  country  were 
summoned  before  the  Star  Chamber,  while  the  censorship  struck 
fiercer  blows  at  the  Puritan  press.  But  the  real  danger  la}-  not  in  Hamp- 
the  libels  of  silly  zealots  but  in  the  attitude  of  Scotland,  and  in  Xov  l6-- 
the  effect  which  was  being  produced  in  England  at  large  by  the 
trial  of  Hampden.  For  twelve  days  the  cause  of  ship-money  was 
solemnly  argued  before  the  full  bench  of  judges.  It  was  proved 
that  the  tax  in  past  times  had  been  levied  only  in  cases  of  sudden 
emergency,  and  confined  to  the  coast  and  port  towns  alone,  and  that 
even  the  show  of  legality  had  been  taken  from  it  bv  formal  statute  : 
it  was  declared  a  breach  of  the  "  fundamental  laws  "  of  England. 
The  case  was  adjourned,  but  the  discussion  told  not  merely  on 
England  but  on  the  temper  of  the  Scots.  Charles  had  replied  to 
their  petitions  by  a  simple  order  to  all  strangers  to  leave  the 
capital.  But  the  Council  at  Edinburgh  was  unable  to  enforce  his 
order ;  and  the  nobles  and  gentry  before  dispersing  to  their  homes 
named  a  body  of  delegates,  under  the  odd  title  of  "the  Tables," 
who  carried  on  through  the  winter  a  series  of  negotiations  with  the 
Crown.  The  negotiations  were  interrupted  in  the  following  spring 
by  a  renewed  order  for  their  dispersion  and  for  the  acceptance  of  a 
Prayer  Book:  ;  while  the  judges  in  England  delivered  at  last  their 
long-delayed  decision  on  Hampden's  case.  Two  judges  only  pro-  june  1638 
nounced  in  his  favour  ;  though  three  followed  them  on  technical 
grounds.  The  majority,  seven  in  number,  gave  judgement  against 
him.  The  broad  principle  was  laid  down  that  no  statute  prohibiting 
arbitrary   taxation  could  be  pleaded   against  the  King's   will.     "  I 


^. 


chap,  vni  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1105 

never  read  or  heard,"    said  Judge  Berkley,  "that  lex  was  rex,  but      sec.  v 
it  is  common  and  most  true  that  rex  is  lex."    Finch,  the  Chief- J  us-        the 

Personal 

tice,  summed  up  the  opinions  of  his  fellow  judges.    "Acts  of  Parlia-     G^™" 
ment  to  take  away  the  King's  royal  power  in  the  defence  of  his       1629 

TO 

kingdom     are     void,"    he    said :...."  they    are    void    Acts    of       1640 

Parliament  to  bind  the  King  not  to  command  the  subjects,  their 

persons,  and  goods,  and   I  say  their  money  too,   for  no  Acts  of 

Parliament  make  any  difference." 

"  I  wish   Mr.   Hampden  and  others  to  his  likeness,"  the  Lord       The 

Covenant 
Deputy  wrote  bitterly  from    Ireland,  "  were  well   whipt   into  their 

right  senses/'  Amidst  the  exultation  of  the  Court  over  the  decision 
of  the  judges,  Wentworth  saw  clearly  that  Hampden's  work  had 
been  done.  His  resistance  had  roused  England  to  a  sense  of  the 
danger  to  her  freedom,  and  forced  into  light  the  real  character 
of  the  royal  claims.  How  stern  and  bitter  the  temper  even  of  the 
noblest  Puritans  had  become  at  last  we  see  in  the  poem  which 
Milton  produced  at  this  time,  his  elegy  of  "  Lycidas."  Its  grave 
and  tender  lament  is  broken  by  a  sudden  flash  of  indignation  at 
the  dangers  around  the  Church,  at  the  "  blind  mouths  that  scarce 
themselves  know  how  to  hold  a  sheep-hook,"  and  to  whom  "  the 
hungry  sheep  look  up,  and  are  not  fed,"  while  "the  grim  wolf"  of 
Rome  "with  privy  paw  daily  devours  apace,  and  nothing  said!" 
The  stern  resolve  of  the  people  to  demand  justice  on  their  tyrants 
spoke  in  his  threat  of  the  axe.  Wentworth  and  Laud,  and  Charles 
himself,  had  yet  to  reckon  with  "  that  two-handed  engine  at  the 
door"  which  stood  "ready  to  smite  once,  and  smite  no  more."  But 
stern  as  was  the  general  resolve,  there  was  no  need  for  im- 
mediate action,  for  the  difficulties  which  were  gathering  in  the 
north  were  certain  to  bring  a  strain  on  the  Government  which 
would  force  it  to  seek  support  from  the  people.  The  King's  demand  1638 
for  immediate  submission,  which  reached  Edinburgh  while  England 
was  waiting  for  the  Hampden  judgement,  at  once  gathered  the 
whole  body  of  remonstrants  together  round  "  the  Tables "  at 
Edinburgh  ;  and  a  protestation,  read  at  Edinburgh  and  Stirling, 
was  followed,  on  Johnston  of  Warriston's  suggestion,  by  a  renewal 
of  the  Covenant  with  God  which  had  been  drawn  up  and  sworn  to 
in  a  previous  hour  of  peril,  when  Mary  was  still  plotting  against 
Protestantism,    and     Spain    was    preparing   its    Armada.       "  We 


uo6  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  v      promise  and  swear,"  ran  the  solemn  engagement  at  its   close,  "  by 
the       the  great  name  of  the  Lord  our  God,  to  continue  in  the  profession 

Personal 

G°entN      ano-  obedience  of  the  said  religion,  and  that  we  shall  defend  the 
1629       same  and  resist  all  their  contrary  errors  and  corruptions  according 

TO 

1640  to  our  vocation  and  the  utmost  of  that  power  which  God  has  put 
into  our  hands  all  the  days  of  our  life."  The  Covenant  was  signed 
in  the  churchyard  of  the  Grey  Friars  at  Edinburgh,  in  a  tumult 
of  enthusiasm,  "  with  such  content  and  joy  as  those  who,  having 
long  before  been  outlaws  and  rebels,  are  admitted  again  into 
covenant  with  God."  Gentlemen  and  nobles  rode  with  the 
document  in  their  pockets  over  the  country,  gathering  subscrip- 
tions to  it,  while  the  ministers  pressed  for  a  general  consent  to  it 
from  the  pulpit.  But  pressure  was  needless.  "  Such  was  the  zeal 
of  subscribers  that  for  a  while  many  subscribed  with  tears  on  their 
cheeks "  ;    some  were   indeed   reputed  to  have  "  drawn  their  own 

The  blood  and  used  it  in  place  of  ink  to  underwrite  their  names."  The 
revolution  f°rce  given  to  Scottish  freedom  by  this  revival  of  religious  fervour 
was  seen  in  the  new  tone  adopted  by  the  Covenanters.  The 
Marquis  of  Hamilton,  who  came  as  Royal  Commissioner  to  put  an 
end  to  the  quarrel,  was  at  once  met  by  demands  for  an  abolition  of 
the  Court  of  High  Commission,  the  withdrawal  of  the  Books  of 
Canons  and  Common  Prayer,  a  free  Parliament,  and  a  free  General 
Assembly.  It  was  in  vain  that  he  threatened  war  ;  even  the  Scotch 
Council  pressed  Charles  to  give  fuller  satisfaction  to  the  people. 
"  I  will  rather  die,"  the  King  wrote  to  Hamilton,  "  than  yield  to 
these  impertinent  and  damnable  demands  ; "  but  it  was  needful  to 
gain  time.  "  The  discontents  at  home,"  wrote  Lord  Northumber- 
land to  Wentworth,  "  do  rather  increase  than  lessen  : "  and  Charles 
was  without  money  or  men.  It  was  in  vain  that  he  begged  for  a 
loan  from  Spain  on  promise  of  declaring  war  against  Holland,  or 
that  he  tried  to  procure  two  thousand  troops  from  Flanders  with 
which  to  occupy  Edinburgh.  The  loan  and  troops  were  both  re- 
fused, and  some  contributions  offered  by  the  English  Catholics  did 
little  to  recruit  the  Exchequer.  Charles  had  directed  the  Marquis 
to  delay  any  decisive  breach  till  the  royal  fleet  appeared  in  the 
Forth  ;  but  it  was  hard  to  equip  a  fleet  at  all.    Scotland  indeed  was 

The       sooner  ready  for  war  than  the  King.     The  Scotch  volunteers  who 
Scotch  J  .  s 

war       had  been  serving  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War  streamed  home  at  the 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1 107 


call  of  their  brethren.  General  Leslie,  a  veteran  trained  under 
Gustavus,  came  from  Sweden  to  take  the  command  of  the  new 
forces.  A  voluntary  war  tax  was  levied  in  every  shire.  The 
danger  at  last  forced  the  King  to  yield  to  the  Scotch  demands  ;  but 
he  had  no  sooner  yielded  than  the  concession  was  withdrawn,  and 
the  Assembly  hardly  met  before  it  was  called  upon  to  disperse. 
By  an  almost  unanimous  vote,  however,  it  resolved  to  continue  its 


Sec.  V 

The 
Personal 
Govern- 
ment 

1629 

TO 
I64O 


ALEXANDER    LESLIE,    AFTERWARDS    EARL    OF    LEVEN. 
Picture  by  Vandyck. 


session.  The  innovations  in  worship  and  discipline  were  abolished, 
episcopacy  was  abjured,  the  bishops  deposed,  and  the  system  of 
Presbyterianism  re-established  in  its  fullest  extent.  The  news  that 
Charles  was  gathering  an  army  at  York,  and  reckoning  for  support 
on  the  scattered  loyalists  in  Scotland  itself,  was  answered  by  the 
seizure  of  Edinburgh,  Dumbarton,  and  Stirling  ;  while  10,000  well- 
equipped  troops  under  Leslie  and  the  Earl  of  Montrose  entered 
Aberdeen,  and  brought  the  Catholic  Earl  of  Huntly  a  prisoner  to 


1639 


chap,  vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1109 

the  south.      Instead  of  overawing  the  country,   the  appearance  of      Sec  v 
the  royal  fleet  in  the  Forth  was   the  signal  for  Leslie's  march  with    ^  The 

J  °  Personal 

20,000  men  to  the  Border.      Charles  had  hardly  pushed  across  the     G°v™' 

Tweed,  when  the  "  old   little  crooked  soldier,"  encamping  on   the        1629 

hill  of  Dunse  Law,  fairly  offered  him  battle.  1640 

Charles  however,  without  money,  to  carry  on  war,  was  forced  to        The 

consent  to  the  gathering  of  a  free  Assembly  and  of  a  Scotch  Par-       war 

liament.     But  in  his  eyes  the  pacification  at  Berwick  was  a  mere 

suspension    of  arms  ;  his  summons  of  YVentworth  from  Ireland  was 

a  proof  that  violent  measures  were  in  preparation,  and  the  Scots 

met  the  challenge  by  seeking  for  aid  from  France.      The  discovery 

of  a  correspondence  between  the  Scotch  leaders   and  the  French 

court  raised  hopes  in  the  King  that  an  appeal  to   the  country  for 

aid  against  Scotch  treason  would  still   find  an  answer  in  English 

loyalty.     Wentworth,  who  was  now   made  Earl  of  Strafford,  had 

never  ceased  to  urge  that  the  Scots  should  be  whipped  back  to  their 

border  ;  he  now  agreed  with  Charles  that  a   Parliament  should  be 

called,  the  correspondence  laid   before  it,  and   advantage  taken  of 

the   burst   of  indignation  on  which  the  King  counted  to  procure 

a  heavy  subsidy.     While  Charles  summoned  what   from  its  brief 

duration  is  known  as   the  Short  Parliament,  Strafford  hurried  to 

Ireland  to  levy  forces.     In  fourteen  days  he  had  obtained  money 

and  men  from  his  servile   Parliament,   and   he   came  back  flushed 

with    his    success,    in    time    for    the    meeting    of   the    Houses    at 

Westminster.      But  the  lesson  failed  in  its  effect.      Every  member   The  Short 

of  the  Commons   knew  that  Scotland  was  fighting   the   battle  of       ment 

English  liberty.       All  hope  of  bringing  them  to  any  attack  upon  Apri/1640 

the  Scots  proved   fruitless.     The   intercepted   letters  were  quietly 

set  aside,  and  the   Commons  declared   as   of  old   that    redress  of 

grievances  must  precede  the  grant  of  supplies.       No  subsidy  could 

be  granted  till  security  was  had  for  religion,   for  property,  and  for 

the  liberties  of  Parliament.       An  offer  to  relinquish    ship-money 

failed  to  draw  Parliament  from  its  resolve,  and  after  three  weeks' 

sitting    it    was     dissolved.       "  Things  must  go  worse  before  they 

go  better,"  was  the  cool  comment  of  St.  John,  one  of  the  patriot 

leaders.     But    the    country    was    strangely    moved.     "  So  great  a 

defection  in  the  kingdom,"   wrote  Lord  Northumberland,     "  hath 

not  been  known   in  the  memory  of  man."     Strafford   alone  stood 
Vol.  Ill— 12 


i  no  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

sec.  v      undaunted.       He  urged  that,  by  the  refusal  of  the  Parliament   to 
The       supply  the  King's  wants,   Charles    was    "  freed    from    all    rule    of 

Personal  *  x    •'  ° 

GmentN      government,"  and  entitled  to  supply  himself  at  his  will.     The  Earl 
1629       Was  bent  upon  war,  and  took  command  of  the  royal  army,  which 

TO 

1640  again  advanced  to  the  north.  But  the  Scots  were  ready  to  cross 
the  border ;  forcing  the  passage  of  the  Tyne  in  the  face  of  an  Eng- 
lish detachment,  they  occupied  Newcastle,  and  despatched  from 
that  town  their  proposals  of  peace.  They  prayed  the  King  to 
consider  their  grievances,  and,  "  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Estates  of  England  convened  in  Parliament,  to  settle  a  firm  and 
desirable  peace."  The  prayer  was  backed  by  preparations  for  a 
march  upon  York,  where  Charles  had  abandoned  himself  to 
despair.  Strafford's  troops  were  a  mere  mob  ;  neither  by  threats 
nor  prayers  could  he  recall  them  to  their  duty,  and  he  was  forced 
to  own  that  two  months  were  required  before  they  could  be  fit  for 
action.  It  was  in  vain  that  Charles  won  a  truce.  Behind  him  in 
fact  England  was  all  but  in  revolt.  The  London  apprentices 
mobbed  Laud  at  Lambeth,  and  broke  up  the  sittings  of  the  High 
Commission  at  St.  Paul's.  The  war  was  denounced  everywhere  as 
"  the  Bishops'  War,"  and  the  new  levies  murdered  officers  whom 
they  suspected  of  Papistry,  broke  down  altar-rails  in  every  church 
they  passed,  and  deserted  to  their  homes.  Two  peers,  Lord 
Wharton  and  Lord  Howard,  ventured  to  lay  before  the  King 
himself  a  petition  for  peace  with  the  Scots  ;  and  though  Strafford 
arrested  and  proposed  to  shoot  them  as  mutineers,  the  English 
Council  shrank  from  desperate  courses.  The  King  still  strove  to 
escape  from  the  humiliation  of  calling  a  Parliament.  He  sum- 
moned a  Great  Council  of  the  Peers  at  York.  But  his  project 
broke  down  before  its  general  repudiation  by  the  nobles  ;  and 
with  wrath  and  shame  at  his  heart  Charles  was  driven  to 
summon   again  the  Houses  to   Westminster. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


mi 


Section  VI. — The  Long  Parliament,   1640 — 1642 

{Authorities. — Clarendon's  "  History  of  the  Rebellion,"'  as  Hallam  justly 
says,  "  belongs  rather  to  the  class  of  memoirs  :'  than  of  histories,  and  the 
rigorous  analysis  of  it  by  Ranke  shows  the  very  different  value  of  its  various 
parts.  Though  the  work  will  always  retain  a  literary  interest  from  its  nobleness 
of  style  and  the  grand  series  of  character-portraits  which  it  embodies,  the  worth 
of  its  account  of  all  that  preceded  the  war  is  almost  destroyed  by  the  contrast 
between  its  author's  conduct  at  the  time  and  his  later  description  of  the  Parlia- 
ment's proceedings,  as  well  as  by  the  deliberate  and  malignant  falsehood  with 
which  he  has  perverted  the  whole  action  of  his  parliamentary  opponents.  May's 
"History  of  the  Long  Parliament"  is  fairly  accurate  and  impartial  ;  but  the 
basis  of  any  real  account  of  it  must  be  found  in  its  own  proceedings  as  they 
have  been  preserved  in  the  notes  of  Sir  Ralph  Verney  and  Sir  Simonds  D'Ewes. 
The  last  remain  unpublishe  i  ;  but  Mr.  Forster  has  drawn  much  from  them  in 
his  two  works,  "The  Grand  Remonstrance"  and  "The  Arrest  of  the  Five 
Members."  The  collections  of  state-papers  by  Rushworth  and  Nalson  are 
indispensable  for  this  period.  It  is  illustrated  by  a  series  of  memoirs,  of  very 
different  degrees  of  value,  such  as  those  of  Whitelock,  Ludlow,  and  Sir  Philip 
Warwick,  as  well  as  by  works  like  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  memoir  of  her  husband, 
or  Baxter's  "  Autobiography."  For  Irish  affairs  we  have  a  vast  store  of 
materials  in  the  Ormond  papers  and  letters  collected  by  Carte  ;  for  Scotland, 
"  Baillie's  Letters  "  and  Mr.  Burton's  History.  Lingard  is  useful  for  information 
as  to  intrigues  with  the  Catholics  in  England  and  Ireland  ;  and  Guizot  directs 
special  attention  to  the  relations  with  foreign  powers.  Pym  has  been  fairly 
sketched  with  other  statesmen  of  the  time  by  Mr.  Forster  in  his  "  Statesmen  of 
the  Commonwealth,"  and  in  an  Essay  on  him  by  Mr.  Goldwin  Smith.  A  good 
deal  of  valuable  research  for  the  period  in  general  is  to  be  found  in  Mr.  Sand- 
ford's  "  Illustrations  of  the  Great  Rebellion."]  (Mr.  Gardiner  has  now  carried 
on  his  History  to  1644. — Ed.) 


Sec.  VI 

The 
Long  Par- 
liament 

1640 

TO 

1642 


If  Strafford  embodied  the  spirit  of  tyranny,  John  Pym,  the 
leader  of  the  Commons  from  the  first  meeting  of  the  new  houses  at 
Westminster,  stands  out  for  all  after  time  as  the  embodiment  of 
law.  A  Somersetshire  gentleman  of  good  birth  and  competent 
fortune,  he  entered  on  public  life  in  the  Parliament  of  16 14,  and 
was  imprisoned  for  his  patriotism  at  its  close.  He  had  been  a 
leading  member  in  that  of  1620,  and  one  of  the  "twelve  am- 
bassadors "  for  whom  James  ordered  chairs  to  be  set  at  Whitehall. 


Pym 


III2 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  VI 

The 
Long  Par- 
liament 

1640 

TO 
1642 


Of  the  band  of  patriots  with  whom  he  had  stood  side  by  side  in 
the  constitutional  struggle  against  the  earlier  despotism  of  Charles 
he  was  almost  the  sole  survivor.  Coke  had  died  of  old  age  ; 
Cotton's  heart  was  broken  by  oppression  ;  Eliot  had  perished  in 
the  Tower  ;  Wentworth  had  apostatized.  Pym  alone  remained, 
resolute,  patient  as  of  old  ;  and  as  the  sense  of  his  greatness  grew 
silently  during  the  eleven   years  of  deepening   misrule,   the  hope 


JOHN     PYM. 
Miniature  by  Samuel  Cooper,  in  the  collection  0/  Mrs.  Russell  Astley,  at  Chequerc  Court. 


and  faith  of  better  things  clung  almost  passionately  to  the  man 
who  never  doubted  of  the  final  triumph  of  freedom  and  the  law. 
At  their  close,  Clarendon  tells  us,  in  words  all  the  more  notable  for 
their  bitter  tone  of  hate,  "  he  was  the  most  popular  man,  and  the 
most  able  to  do  hurt,  that  has  lived  at  any  time."  He  had  shown 
he  knew  how  to  wait,  and  when  waiting  was  over  he  showed  he 
knew  how  to  act.  On  the  eve  of  the  Long  Parliament  he  rode 
through  England  to  quicken  the  electors  to  a  sense  of  the  crisis 


theory 


vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1113 

which  had  come  at  last  ;  and  on  the  assembling  of  the  Commons      Sec.  vi 
he  took  his  place,   not   merely   as  member  for   Tavistock,  but  as        the 

r  '  Long  Par- 

their    acknowledged    head.       Few     of     the     country    gentlemen,     L'IAMENT 

1 640 
indeed,    who    formed    the   bulk  of  the  members,   had   sat   in   any         to 

previous  House  ;  and  of  the  few,  none  represented  in  so  eminent  a         — 
way  the  Parliamentary  tradition  on  which  the  coming  struggle  was 
to  turn.      Pym's  eloquence,  inferior  in  boldness  and  originality  to 
that  of  Eliot  or  Wentworth,  was  better  suited  by  its  massive  and 
logical   force    to  convince   and  guide  a  great  party ;    and   it    was 
backed   by   a   calmness  of  temper,   a  dexterity  and  order  in  the 
management  of  public  business,  and  a  practical  power  of  shaping 
the  course  of  debate,  which   gave  a   form  and   method   to   Parlia- 
mentary proceedings  such  as  they  had  never  had  before.     Valuable, 
however,  as  these  qualities  were,  it  was  a  yet  higher  quality  which 
raised  Pym  into  the  greatest,  as  he  was  the  first,  of  Parliamentary 
leaders.     Of  the   five  hundred   members   who   sate   round  him   at        His 
St.  Stephen's,  he  was  the  one  man  who  had  clearly  foreseen,  and     ^'/^ 
as  clearly  resolved  how  to  meet,  the  difficulties  which  lay  before 
them.      It    was   certain   that   Parliament   would  be   drawn   into  a 
struggle  with  the  Crown.     It  was  probable  that  in  such  a  struggle 
the    House   of   Commons    would    be   hampered,    as    it    had    been 
hampered  before,  by  the  House  of  Lords.      The  legal  antiquaries 
of  the    older    constitutional  school   stood   helpless   before  such   a 
conflict  of  co-ordinate   powers,  a   conflict   for  which  no  provision 
had  been  made  by  the  law,  and  on  which  precedents  threw  only  a 
doubtful  and  conflicting  light.     But  with  a  knowledge  of  precedent 
as  great  as  their  own,  Pym  rose  high  above  them  in  his  grasp  of 
constitutional  principles.     He  was  the  first  English  statesman  who 
discovered,  and  applied  to  the  political  circumstances  around  him, 
what  may  be  called  the  doctrine  of  constitutional  proportion.      He 
saw  that  as  an  element  of   constitutional  life  Parliament  was  of 
higher  value  than  the   Crown  ;  he    saw,  too,    that    in    Parliament 
itself  the    one  essential   part   was  the    House   of   Commons.     On 
these  two  facts  he   based   his  whole  policy  in   the   contest  which 
followed.     When  Charles  refused  to  act  with  the  Parliament,  Pym 
treated  the  refusal  as  a   temporary  abdication  on  the  part  of  the 
sovereign,    which  vested  the  executive  power  in  the  two   Houses 
until  new  arrangements  were  made.      When  the   Lords  obstructed 


chap,  vin  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1115 

public  business,  he  warned  them  that  obstruction  would  only  force      Sec.  vi 
the  Commons   "  to   save  the  kingdom   alone."      Revolutionary  as    _    The, 

&  J  Long  Par- 

these  principles  seemed  at  the  time,  thev  have  both  been  recognized      LIAMENT 
r         ^  '  &  1640 

as   bases  of  our   constitution   since   the  davs   of  Pym.     The  first         to 

•     -i  ,         l642 

principle  was  established  by  the  Convention  and  Parliament  which 

followed  on  the  departure  of  James  the  Second  ;  the  second  by  the 

acknowledgement  on  all  sides  since  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832  that 

the  government  of  the  country  is  really  in  the  hands  of  the  House 

of    Commons,     and    can    only    be    carried    on    by    ministers    who 

represent  the  majority  of  that  House.      Pym's  temper,  indeed,  was 

the  very  opposite  of  the  temper  of  a  revolutionist.      Few  natures        His 

have    ever    been    wider    in    their    range    of   sympathy    or    action,     genius 

Serious  as  his   purpose   was,   his   manners   were  genial,   and   even 

courtly  :  he  turned  easily  from  an  invective  against  Strafford  to  a 

chat  with  Lady  Carlisle  ;  and  the  grace  and  gaiety  of  his  social 

tone,  even  when  the  care  and  weight  of  public  affairs  were  bringing 

him  to  his  grave,  gave  rise  to  a  hundred  silly  scandals  among  the 

prurient    royalists.       It   was  this    striking    combination    of   genial 

versatility  with  a  massive  force  in  his  nature  which  marked  him 

out  from  the  first  moment  of  power  as  a  born  ruler  of  men.      He 

proved    himself    at    once    the    subtlest    of   diplomatists    and    the 

grandest  of  demagogues.     He  was  equally  at  home  in  tracking  the 

subtle    intricacies    of    royalist    intrigues,    or    in    kindling    popular 

passion   with   words  of  fire.      Though  past   middle   life  when  his 

work  really  began,  for  he  was  born  in   1584,  four  years  before  the 

coming  of  the  Armada,  he  displayed  from  the  first  meeting  of  the 

Long  Parliament  the  qualities  of  a  great  administrator,  an  immense 

faculty    for    labour,    a    genius    for   organization,    patience,   tact,   a 

power  of  inspiring  confidence  in   all  whom   he  touched,  calmness 

and  moderation  under  good  fortune  or  ill,  an  immovable  courage, 

an  iron  will.     No  English  ruler  has  ever  shown  greater  nobleness  of 

natural    temper    or    a    wider    capacity    for    government    than    the 

Somersetshire    squire   whom  his  enemies,    made    clear-sighted    by 

their  hate,  greeted  truly  enough  as  "  King  Pym." 

His   ride   over    England    with    Hampden    on    the    eve    of   the        The 

Work  of 
elections  had  been  hardly  needed,  for  the  summons  of  a  Parliament    the  par- 

at  once  woke  the  kingdom  to  a  fresh  life.      The  Puritan  emigration     liament 

to    New    England    was    suddenly    and    utterly    suspended  ;    "  the 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1 117 


change,"  said  Winthrop,  "  made  all  men  to  stay  in  England  in 
expectation  of  a  new  world."  The  public  discontent  spoke  from 
every  Puritan  pulpit,  and  expressed  itself  in  a  sudden  burst  of 
pamphlets,  the  first-fruits  of  the  thirty  thousand  which  were  issued 
in  the  next  twenty  years,  and  which  turned  England  at  large  into 
a  school  of  political  discussion.  The  resolute  looks  of  the  members 
as  they  gathered  at  Westminster  contrasted  with  the  hesitating 
words  of  the  King,  and  each  brought  from  borough  or  county  a 
petition  of  grievances.  Fresh  petitions  were  brought  every  day  by 
bands  of  citizens  or  farmers.  Forty  committees  were  appointed  to 
examine  and  report  on  them,  and  their  reports  formed  the  grounds 
on  which  the  Commons  acted.  Prynne  and  his  fellow  ''martyrs," 
recalled  from  their  prisons,  entered  London  in  triumph  amidst  the 
shouts  of  a  great  multitude  who  strewed  laurel  in  their  path.  The 
Commons  dealt  roughly  with  the  agents  of  the  royal  system.  In 
every  county  a  list  of  "  delinquents,"  or  officers  who  had  carried 
out  the  plans  of  the  government,  was  ordered  to  be  prepared  and 
laid  before  the  House.  But  their  first  blow  was  struck  at  the 
leading  ministers  of  the  King.  Even  Laud  was  not  the  centre  of 
so  great  and  universal  a  hatred  as  the  Earl  of  Strafford.  Strafford's 
guilt  was  more  than  the  guilt  of  a  servile  instrument  of  tyranny, 
it  was  the  guilt  of  "  that  grand  apostate  to  the  Commonwealth 
who,"  in  the  terrible  words  which  closed  Lord  Digby's  invective, 
"  must  not  expect  to  be  pardoned  in  this  world  till  he  be  despatched 
to  the  other."  He  was  conscious  of  his  danger,  but  Charles  forced 
him  to  attend  the  Court ;  and  with  characteristic  boldness  he 
resolved  to  anticipate  attack  by  accusing  the  Parliamentary  leadeps 
of  a  treasonable  correspondence  with  the  Scots.  He  was  just 
laying  his  scheme  before  Charles  when  the  news  reached  him  that 
Pym  was  at  the  bar  of  the  Lords  with  his  impeachment  for  high 
treason.  "  With  speed,"  writes  an  eye-witness,  "  he  comes  to  the 
House  :  he  calls  rudely  at  the  door,"  and,  "  with  a  proud  glooming 
look,  makes  towards  his  place  at  the  board-head.  But  at  once 
many  bid  him  void  the  House,  so  he  is  forced  in  confusion  to  go 
to  the  door  till  he  was  called."  He  was  only  recalled  to  hear  his 
committal  to  the  Tower.  He  was  still  resolute  to  retort  the  charge 
of  treason  on  his  foes,  and  "  offered  to  speak,  but  was  commanded 
to    be    gone    without    a  word."     The    keeper    of  the    Black    Rod 


Sec  VI 

The 
Long  Par- 
liament 

1640 

TO 

1642 
1640 


Impeach- 
ment of 
Strafford 


Xov.  II 


<  -s  £ 

s  u  "** 


SHi 


$ 
^ 


chap,  vin  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1119 

demanded  his  sword  as  he  took  him  in  charge.     "  This  done,   he      Sk.  vi 
makes  through  a  number  of  people   towards   his   coach,   no   man    _    Th* 

°  r       r  Long  Par- 

capping   to  him,   before   whom    that   morning    the  greatest   of  all     l:a 
_      ,  1640 

England   would   have   stood   uncovered."     The   blow   was   quickly 

followed    up.      YVindebank.    the   Secretary  of  State,   was  charged         — - 

•  1  r  •  r  1  ,  -r-  -!-•       ,       Fall  of  the 

with  corrupt  favouring  of  recusants,  and  escaped  to  France  ;  Finch.  Ministers 
the  Lord  Keeper,  was  impeached,  and  fled  in  terror  over-sea.  Dec-  l6+° 
Laud  himself  was  thrown  into  prison.  The  shadow  of  what  was  to 
come  falls  across  the  pages  of  his  diary,  and  softens  the  hard  tem- 
per of  the  man  into  a  strange  tenderness.  "  I  stayed  at  Lambeth 
till  the  evening,"  writes  the  Archbishop,  ,;  to  avoid  the  gaze  of  the 
people.  I  went  to  evening  prayer  in  my  chapel.  The  Psalms  of 
the  day  and  chapter  fifty  of  Isaiah  gave  me  great  comfort.  God 
make  me  worthy  of  it,  and  fit  to  receive  it.  As  I  went  to  my 
barge,  hundreds  of  my  poor  neighbours  stood  there  and  prayed  for 
my  safetv  and  return  to  mv  house.  For  which  I  bless  God  and 
them."  Charles  was  forced  to  look  helplessly  on  at  the  wreck  of 
the  royal  system,  for  the  Scotch  army  was  still  encamped  in  the 
north  ;  and  the  Parliament,  which  saw  in  the  presence  of  the  Scots 
a  security  against  its  own  dissolution,  was  in  no  hurry  to  vote  the 
money  necessary  for  their  withdrawal.  "  We  cannot  do  without 
them,"  Strode  honestly  confessed,  "  the  Philistines  are  still  too 
strong  for  us."  One  by  one  the  lawless  acts  of  Charles's  govern- 
ment were  undone.  Ship-money  was  declared  illegal,  the  judge- 
ment in  Hampden's  case  annulled,  and  one  of  the  judges  committed 
to  prison.  A  statute  declaring  "  the  ancient  right  of  the  subjects  1641 
of  this  kingdom  that  no  subsidy,  custom,  impost,  or  any  charge 
whatsoever,  ought  or  may  be  laid  or  imposed  upon  any  merchan- 
dize exported  or  imported  by  subjects,  denizens,  or  aliens,  without 
common  consent  in  Parliament,"  put  an  end  for  ever  to  all  pre- 
tensions to  a  right  of  arbitrary  taxation  on  the  part  of  the  Crown. 
A  Triennial  Bill  enforced  the  assemblv  of  the  Houses  everv  three 
years,  and  bound  the  returning  officers  to  proceed  to  election  if 
the  Royal  writ  failed  to  summon  them.  A  Committee  of  Religion 
had  been  appointed  to  consider  the  question  of  Church  Reform, 
and  on  its  report  the  Commons  passed  a  bill  for  the  removal  of 
bishops  from  the  House  of  Lords. 

The  King  made  no  sign  of  opposition.      He  was  known  to  be 


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chap,  vni  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1121 

resolute  against  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy  ;  but  he  announced  no      Sac  vi 

purpose  of  resisting  the  expulsion  of  the  bishops  from  the  Peers.         Th| 

Strafford's    life    he    was    determined    to   save  ;    but    he    threw    no     UAMENT 

1640 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  his  impeachment.     The   trial  of  the   Earl         to 

beo;an    in    Westminster    Hall,    and    the    whole    of    the    House    of        — 

_  The 

Commons  appeared  to  support  it.     The  passion  which  the  cause   Death  of 

excited  was  seen  in  the  loud  cries  of  svmpathv   or  hatred   which    Strafford 

Jla  r.  22 

burst  from  the  crowded  benches  on  either  side.  For  fifteen  days  j}ie  Triai 
Strafford  struggled  with  a  remarkable  courage  and  ingenuity 
against  the  list  of  charges,  and  melted  his  audience  to  tears  by  the 
pathos  of  his  defence.  But  the  trial  was  suddenly  interrupted. 
Though  tyranny  and  misgovernment  had  been  conclusively  proved 
against  him,  the  technical  proof  of  treason  was  weak.  "  The  law 
of  England,"  to  use  Hallam's  words,  "  is  silent  as  to  conspiracies 
against  itself,"  and  treason  by  the  Statute  of  Edward  the  Third 
was  restricted  to  a  levying  of  war  against  the  King  or  a  compassing 
of  his  death.  The  Commons  endeavoured  to  strengthen  their  case 
by  bringing  forward  the  notes  of  a  meeting  of  a  Committee  of  the 
Commons  in  which  Strafford  had  urged  the  use  of  his  Irish  troops 
"  to  reduce  this  kingdom  ;  "  but  the  Lords  would  only  admit  the 
evidence  on  condition  of  wholly  reopening  the  case.  Pym  and 
Hampden  remained  convinced  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  impeach- 
ment ;  but  the  Commons  broke  loose  from  their  control,  and,  guided 
by  St.  John  and  Henry  Marten,  resolved  to  abandon  these  judicial 
proceedings,  and  fall  back  on  tne  resource  of  a  Bill  of  Attainder.  Bill  of 
Their  course  has  been  bitterly  censured  by  some  whose  opinion  in 
such  a  matter  is  entitled  to  respect.  But  the  crime  of  Strafford 
was  none  the  less  a  crime  that  it  did  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  the 
Statute  of  Treasons.  It  is  impossible  indeed  to  provide  for  some 
of  the  greatest  dangers  which  can  happen  to  national  freedom  by 
any  formal  statute.  Even  now  a  minister  might  avail  himself  of 
the  temper  of  a  Parliament  elected  in  some  moment  of  popular 
panic,  and,  though  the  nation  returned  to  its  senses,  might  simply 
by  refusing  to  appeal  to  the  country  govern  in  defiance  of  its  will. 
Such  a  course  would  be  technically  legal,  but  such  a  minister 
would  be  none  the  less  a  criminal.  Strafford's  course,  whether  it 
fell  within  the  Statute  of  Treasons  or  no,  was  from  beginning  to 
end  an  attack  on   the  freedom  of  the  whole  nation.      In  the  last 


chap,  viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1123 


resort    a  nation  retains  the  right  of  self-defence,  and  the  Bill  of     sec.  vi 
Attainder  is  the  assertion  of  such  a  right  for  the  punishment  of  a        the 

0  A  Long  Par- 

public  enemy  who  falls  within  the  scope  of  no  written  law.  To  L1AMENT 
save  Strafford  and  Episcopacy  Charles  seemed  to  assent  to  a  pro- 
posal for  entrusting  the  offices  of  State  to  the  leaders  of  the 
Parliament,  with  the  Earl  of  Bedford  as  Lord  Treasurer  ;  the  only 
conditions  he  made  were  that  Episcopacy  should  not  be  abolished 
nor  Strafford  executed.  But  the  negotiations  were  interrupted  by 
Bedford's  death,  and  by  the  discovery  that  Charles  had  been 
listening  all  the  while  to  counsellors  who  proposed  to  bring  about  The  Army 
his  end  by  stirring  the  army  to  march  on  London,  seize  the  Tower, 
free  Strafford,  and  deliver  the  King  from  his  thraldom  to  Parlia- 
ment. The  discovery  of  the  Army  Plot  sealed  Strafford's  fate. 
The  Londoners  were  roused  to  frenzy,  and  as  the  Peers  gathered  at 
Westminster  crowds  surrounded  the  House  with  cries  of  "Justice." 
On  May  8  the  Lords  passed  the  Bill  of  Attainder.  The  Earl's  one 
hope  was  in  the  King,  but  two  days  later  the  royal  assent  was 
given,  and  he  passed  to  his  doom.  Strafford  died  as  he  had  lived. 
His  friends  warned  him  of  the  vast  multitude  gathered  before  the 
Tower  to  witness  his  fall.  "  I  know  how  to  look  death  in  the  face,  May  12 
and  the  people  too,"  he  answered  proudly.  "  I  thank  God  I  am  no 
more  afraid  of  death,  but  as  cheerfully  put  off  my  doublet  at  this 
time  as  ever  I  did  when  I  went  to  bed."  As  the  axe  fell,  the 
silence  of  the  great  multitude  was  broken  by  a  universal  shout  of 
joy.  The  streets  blazed  with  bonfires.  The  bells  clashed  out  from 
every  steeple.  "  Many,"  says  an  observer,  "  that  came  to  town  to 
see  the  execution  rode  in  triumph  back,  waving  their  hats,  and 
with  all  expressions  of  joy  through  every  town  they  went,  crying, 
<  His  head  is  off !     His  head  is  off ! '  " 

The  failure  of  the  attempt  to  establish  a  Parliamentary  ministry,       The 
the  discovery  of  the  Army  Plot,  the  execution  of  Strafford,  were    Remon- 
the    turning  points  in  the  history  of  the  Long  Parliament.     Till     strance 
May  there  was  still  hope  for  an  accommodation  between  the  Com- 
mons and  the  Crown  by  which  the  freedom  that  had  been  won 
might  have  been  taken  as  the  base  of  a  new  system  of  government. 
But  from  that  hour  little  hope  of  such  an  agreement  remained.     On 
the  one    hand,   the    air,  since    the    army    conspiracy,  was    full    of 
rumours  and  panic  ;  the  creak  of  a  few  boards  revived  the  memory  The  Panic 


II24  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  vi      of  the  Gunpowder  Plot,  and  the  members  rushed  out  of  the  House 
the       of  Commons  in  the  full  belief  that  it  was  undermined.     On  the 

Long  Par- 
liament    other  hand,  Charles  regarded  his  consent  to  the  new  measures  as 

to         having   been    extorted    by  force,  and  to  be  retracted  at  the  first 
opportunity.      Both    Houses,  in  their  terror,  swore  to  defend  the 
Protestant    religion   and  the  public   liberties,  an   oath  which   was 
subsequently  exacted  from  every  one  engaged  in  civil  employment, 
and  voluntarily  taken  by  the  great  mass  of  the  people.     The  same 
terror  of  a   counter-revolution   induced   Hyde  and  the  "  moderate 
men  "  in  the  Commons  to  agree  to  a  bill  providing  that  the  present 
Parliament  should  not  be  dissolved  but  by  its  own  consent.     Of  all 
the  demands   of  the   Parliament  this   was   the  first  that  could  be 
called  distinctly  revolutionary.     To  consent  to  it  was  to  establish  a 
power  permanently  co-ordinate  with  the  Crown.     Charles  signed 
the  bill  without  protest,  but  he  was  already  planning  the  means  of 
breaking    the    Parliament.     Hitherto,  the   Scotch  army  had   held 
him   down,  but   its  payment  and  withdrawal  could   no  longer  be 
delayed,  and  a  pacification  was  arranged  between  the  two  countries. 
The    Houses    hastened    to   complete    their    task   of  reform.     The 
irregular  jurisdictions  of  the  Council  of  the  North  and  the  Court  of 
Abolition    the    Marches   of  Wales   had   been  swept  away  ;  and  the  civil  and 
°-Cf         criminal  jurisdiction  of  the  Star  Chamber  and  the  Court  of  High 
Chamber    Commission,  the  last  of  the  extraordinary  courts  which  had  been 
the  support  of  the  Tudor  monarchy,  were  now  summarily  abolished. 
The  work  was  pushed  hastily  on,  for  haste  was  needed.     The  two 
armies  had  been  disbanded  ;  and  the  Scots  were  no  sooner  on  their 
way  homeward  than  the  King  resolved  to  bring  them  back.     In 
Charles  in  spite  of  prayers  from  the  Parliament  he  left  London  for  Edinburgh, 
Scotland    yielded  to  every  demand  of  the  Assembly  and  the  Scotch  Estates, 
attended  the  Presbyterian  worship,  lavished  titles  and  favours  on 
the  Earl  of  Argyle  and  the  patriot  leaders,  and  gained  for  a  few 
months  a  popularity  which  spread  dismay  in  the  English  Parlia- 
ment.     Their    dread    of  his  designs  was  increased  when  he  was 
found  to  have  been  intriguing  all  the  while  with  the  Earl  of  Mont- 
rose— who  had  seceded  from  the  patriot  party  before  his  coming, 
and    been    rewarded    for   his  secession  with  imprisonment  in  the 
castle    of  Edinburgh — and  when   Hamilton  and  Argyle  withdrew 
suddenly  from  the  capital,  and  charged  the  King  with  a  treacherous 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND. 


1125 


plot  to  seize  and  carry  them  out  of  the  realm.     The  fright  was      Sbc  vi 
fanned    to    frenzy    by  news  which  came   suddenly   from    Ireland, 


The 
Long  Par- 
liament 

1640 

TO 
1642 


JAMES    GRAHAME,    EARL    AND     MARQUIS    OF    MONTROSE. 
From  an  engraving  by  Faed  of  a  picture  by  Honthorst. 


■where  the  fall  of  Strafford  had  put  an  end  to  all  semblance  of  rule. 
The  disbanded  soldiers  of  the  army  he  had  raised  spread  over  the 
country,  and  stirred  the  smouldering  disaffection  into  a  flame.     A 
Vol.  Ill— 13 


1 1 26  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  vi      conspiracy,  organised  with  wonderful  power  and  secrecy,  burst  forth 
.    Th|        in  Ulster,  where  the  confiscation  of  the  Settlement  had  never  been 

Long  Par- 
liament     forgiven,  and   spread  like  wildfire  over  the  centre  and   west  of  the 

1°         island.     Dublin   was  saved    by  a   mere  chance  ;   but   in  the  open 
1642  '  * 

— .       country  the  work  of  murder  went  on  unchecked.     Thousands  of 

The  Irish 

Rising  English  people  perished  in  a  few  days,  and  rumour  doubled  and 
Oct.  1641  trebled  the  number.  Tales  of  horror  and  outrage,  such  as 
maddened  our  own  England  when  they  reached  us  from  Cawnpore, 
came  day  after  day  over  the  Irish  Channel.  Sworn  depositions 
told  how  husbands  were  cut  to  pieces  in  presence  of  their  wives, 
their  children's  brains  dashed  out  before  their  faces,  their  daughters 
brutally  violated  and  driven  out  naked  to  perish  frozen  in  the 
woods.  "  Some,"  says  May,  "  were  burned  on  set  purpose,  others 
drowned  for  sport  or  pastime,  and  if  they  swam  kept  from  landing 
with  poles,  or  shot,  or  murdered  in  the  water  ;  many  were  buried 
quick,  and  some  set  into  the  earth  breast-high  and  there  left  to 
famish."  Much  of  all  this  was  the  wild  exaggeration  of  panic.  But 
the  revolt  was  unlike  any  earlier  rising  in  its  religious  character. 
It  was  no  longer  a  struggle,  as  of  old,  of  Celt  against  Saxon,  but 
of  Catholic  against  Protestant.  The  Papists  within  the  Pale  joined 
hands  in  it  with  the  wild  kernes  outside  the  Pale.  The  rebels 
called  themselves  "  Confederate  Catholics,"  resolved  to  defend  "  the 
public  and  free  exercise  of  the  true  and  Catholic  Roman  religion." 
The  panic  waxed  greater  when  it  was  found  that  they  claimed  to 
be  acting  by  the  King's  commission,  and  in  aid  of  his  authority. 
They  professed  to  stand  by  Charles  and  his  heirs  against  all  that 
should  "  directly  and  indirectly  endeavour  to  suppress  their  royal 
prerogatives."  They  showed  a  Commission,  purporting  to  have 
been  issued  by  royal  command  at  Edinburgh,  and  styled  them- 
selves "  the  King's  army."  The  Commission  was  a  forgery,  but 
belief  in  it  was  quickened  by  the  want  of  all  sympathy  with  the 
national  honour  which  Charles  displayed.  To  him  the  revolt 
seemed  a  useful  check  on  his  opponents.  "  I  hope,"  he  wrote 
coolly,  when  the  news  reached  him,  "  this  ill  news  of  Ireland  may 
hinder  some  of  these  follies  in  England."  Above  all,  it  would 
necessitate  the  raising  of  an  army,  and  with  an  army  at  his  com- 
mand he  would  again  be  the  master  of  the  Parliament.  The 
Parliament,   on  the  other   hand,  saw   in  the   Irish  revolt  the  dis- 


Ylll 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1127 


closure  of  a   vast  scheme   for   a  counter-revolution,  of  which   the      Sec.  vi 

withdrawal  of  the  Scotch  army,  the  reconciliation  of  Scotland,  the  T    Th£ 

intrigues  at  Edinburgh,  were  all  parts.      Its  terror  was  quickened  LIA*ENT 
into  panic  by  the  exultation  of  the  royalists  at  the  King's  return, 
and  by  the  appearance  of  a  royalist  partv  in  the  Parliament  itself.        — 

J  v  m  The  new 

The  new  party  had  been  silently  organized   by  Hyde,  the  future  Royalists 


LUCIUS    CARY,    VISCOUNT    FALKLAND. 
Picture  by  Franz  Hals,  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Aricndell  of  IVardoitr. 


Lord  Clarendon.  With  him  stood  Lord  Falkland,  a  man  learned 
and  accomplished,  the  centre  of  a  circle  which  embraced  the  most 
liberal  thinkers  of  his  clay,  a  keen  reasoner  and  able  speaker, 
whose  intense  desire  for  liberty  of  religious  thought,  which  he  now 
saw  threatened  by  the  dogmatism  of  the  time,  estranged  him  from 
Parliament,    while    his    dread    of   a    conflict    with   the   Crown,  his 


1128 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  VI 

The 
Long  Par- 
liament 

164O 

TO 
I642 


passionate  longing  for  peace,  his  sympathy  for  the  fallen,  led  him 
to  struggle  for  a  King  whom  he  distrusted,  and  to  die  in  a  cause 
that  was  not  his  own.     Behind  Falkland  and  Hyde  soon  gathered 


SIR    EDMUND    VERNEY. 
Picture  by   Vandyck,  at  Claydon  House. 


a  strong  force  of  supporters  ;  chivalrous  soldiers  like  Sir  Edmund 
Verney  ("  I  have  eaten  the  King's  bread  and  served  him  now  thirty 
years,  and  I  will  not  do  so  base  a  thing  as  to  desert  him  "),  as  well 


vin  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1129 

as  men  frightened  by  the  rapid  march  of  change  or  by  the  dangers      Sec.  vi 

which  threatened  Episcopacy  and  the  Church,  the  partizans  of  the        Th| 

Court,  and  the  time-servers  who  looked  forward  to  a  new  triumph      "**■" 

1  1640 

of  the  Crown.      With  a  broken   Parliament,  and   perils  Gathering         to 

r  &  &        1642 

without,  Pym  resolved  to  appeal  for  aid  to  the  nation  itself.     The 

The 

Grand  Remonstrance  which  he  laid  before  the   House  was  a  de-      Grand 
tailed  narrative  of  the  work  which  the  Parliament  had  done,  the     strance 
difficulties  it  had  surmounted,  and  the  new  dangers  which  lay  in  its   Nvo.  1641 
path.     The  Parliament  had  been  charged  with  a  design  to  abolish 
Episcopacy,  it  declared  its  purpose  to  be  simply  that  of  reducing 
the    power    of  bishops.       Politically    it    repudiated    the    taunt    of 
revolutionary  aims.      It  demanded  only  the  observance  of  the  ex- 
isting laws  against  recusancy,  securities  for  the  due  administration 
of  justice,  and  the  employment  of  ministers  who  possessed  the  con- 
fidence   of   Parliament.      The    new    King's    party  fought  fiercely, 
debate  followed  debate,  the  sittings  were  prolonged  till  lights  had 
to  be  brought  in  ;  and  it  was  only  at  midnight,  and  by  a  majority 
of  eleven,    that   the   Remonstrance  was    finally   adopted.     On   an 
attempt  of  the  minority  to  offer  a  formal  protest  against  a  subse- 
quent vote  for  its  publication  the  slumbering  passion  broke  out  into 
a  flame.     "  Some  waved  their  hats  over  their  heads,  and  others  took 
their  swords  in  their  scabbards  out  of  their  belts,  and  held  them  by 
the  pommels  in  their  hands,  setting  the  lower  part  on  the  ground." 
Only  Hampden's  coolness  and  tact  averted  a  conflict.     The  Re- 
monstrance was  felt  on  both  sides  to  be  a  crisis  in  the  struggle. 
"  Had  it  been   rejected,"  said    Cromwell,  as   he  left  the  House,  "  I 
would  have  sold   to-morrow   all    I    possess,  and   left   England   for 
ever."     Listened   to   sullenly  by  the   King,   it  kindled  afresh   the 
spirit  of  the  country.     London  swore  to  live  and  die  with  the  Par- 
liament ;  associations  were   formed  in  every  county  for  the  defence 
of  the  Houses  ;  and  when  the  guard  which  the  Commons  had  asked 
for  in  the   panic   of  the   Army  Plot  was  withdrawn  by  the  King, 
the  populace  crowded  down  to  Westminster  to  take  its  place. 

The  question    which    had   above  all   broken   the   unity   of  the      Arrest 
Parliament  had  been  the  question  of  the  Church.     All  were  aereed      °l.the 

^  &  Five 

on  the  necessity  of  reform,  and  one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Parlia-    Members 
ment  had  been  to  appoint  a  Committee  of  Religion  to  consider  the 
question.     The  bulk  of  the  Commons  as  of  the  Lords  were  at  first 


1130 


Sec.  VI 

The 
Long  Par- 
liament 

1640 

TO 
I642 

Church 
reform 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


against  any  radical  changes  in  the  constitution  or  doctrines  of  the 
Church.  But  within  as  without  the  House  the  general  opinion  was 
in  favour  of  a  reduction  of  the  power  and  wealth  of  the  prelates,  as 
well  as  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Church  Courts.  Even  among  the 
bishops  themselves,  the  more  prominent  saw  the  need  for  consent- 
ing to  the  abolition  of  Chapters  and  Bishops'  Courts,  as  well  as  to 


THE    CARELESS     NON-RESIDENT." 
Trxct,   "Remonstrance  against  X on- Residents"   1642. 


the  election  of  a  council  of  ministers  in  each  diocese,  which  had 
been  suggested  by  Archbishop  Usher  as  a  check  on  episcopal 
autocracy.  A  scheme  to  this  effect  was  drawn  up  by  Bishop 
Williams  of  Lincoln  ;  but  it  was  far  from  meeting  the  wishes  of  the 
general  body  of  the  Commons.  Pym  and  Lord  Falkland  demanded, 
in  addition  to  these  changes,  a  severance  of  the  clergy  from  all 
secular  or  state  offices,  and  an  expulsion  of  the  bishops  from   the 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


mi 


House  of  Lords.     Such  a   measure  seemed  needed  to  restore  the  sec.  vi 

independence  of  the  Peers  ;  for  the   number  and   servility  of  the  the 

r                                                                                                                                            *  Long  Par- 

bishops  were  commonly  strong  enough   to  prevent  any  opposition  UAMENT 
to  the  Crown.     There  was,  however,  a  growing  party  which  pressed 
for  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy  altogether.     The  doctrines  of  Cart- 

The 

wright  had  risen  into  popularity  under   the  persecution  of  Laud,  Bishops 

and  Presbyterianism  was  now  a  formidable  force  among  the  middle  UgaJZ 
classes.     Its    chief  strength    lay    in    the  eastern   counties   and   in 


rum  inn  mum  n 


"""nrnmnnTrnTi  hiimjj/: 


Wiiiiiiuiiuiiiimuiuwum] 


THE     PROCTOR    AND     PARATOR. 
Title-page  of  a  Tract  on  the  abuses  and  exorbitances 


London,  where  a  few  ministers  such  as  Calamy  and  Marshall  had 
formed  a  committee  for  its  diffusion  ;  while  in  Parliament  it  was 
represented  by  Lord  Mandeville  and  some  others.  In  the 
Commons  Sir  Harry  Vane  represented  a  more  extreme  partv  of 
reformers,  the  Independents  of  the  future,  whose  sentiments  were 
little  less  hostile  to  Presbyterianism  than  to  Episcopacy,  but  who 
acted  with  the  Presbyterians  for  the  present,  and  formed  a  part  of 
what  became  known  as  the  "  root  and  branch  party."  from  its 
demand    for  the  extirpation  of  prelacy.     The  attitude  of  Scotland 


n32  HISTORY    OF     THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  vi      in  the  great  struggle  against  tyranny,  and  the  political  advantages 

The 
Long  Par- 


.T,H£.„    °f  a  religious  union  between  the  two  kingdoms,  as  well  as  the  desire 


liament     to  knij.  foe  English  Church  more  closely  to  the  general  body  of 

to         Protestantism,  gave  force  to  the  Presbyterian  party.       Milton,  who 
1642 
—        after  the  composition  of  his  "  Lycidas  "  had  spent  a  year  in  foreign 

travel,  returned  to  throw  himself  on  this  ground  into  the  theological 
strife.  He  held  it  "  an  unjust  thing  that  the  English  should  differ 
from  all  Churches  as  many  as  be  reformed."  In  spite  of  this 
pressure,  however,  and  of  a  Presbyterian  petition  from  London 
with  fifteen  thousand  signatures  to  the  same  purport,  the 
Committee  of  Religion  reported  in  favour  of  the  moderate  reforms 
proposed  by  Falkland  and  Pym  ;  and  a  bill  for  the  removal  of 
bishops  from  the  House  of  Peers  passed  the  Commons  almost  un- 
animously. Rejected  by  the  Lords  on  the  eve  of  the  King's 
journey  to  Scotland,  it  was  again  introduced  on  his  return.  Pym 
and  his  colleagues,  anxious  to  close  the  disunion  in  their  ranks, 
sought  to  end  the  pressure  of  the  Presbyterian  zealots,  and  the 
dread  of  the  Church  party,  by  taking  their  stand  on  the 
compromise  suggested  by  the  Committee  of  Religion  in  the  spring. 
But  in  spite  of  violent  remonstrances  from  the  Commons  the  bill 
still  hung  fire  among  the  Peers.  The  delay  roused  the  excited 
crowd  of  Londoners  who  gathered  round  Whitehall  ;  the  bishops'' 
carriages  were  stopped,  and  the  prelates  themselves  rabbled  on 
their  way  to  the  House.  The  angry  pride  of  Williams  induced  ten 
of  his  fellow  bishops  to  declare  themselves  prevented  from  attend- 
ance in  Parliament,  and  to  protest  against  all  acts  done  in  their 
absence  as  null  and  void.  The  protest  was  met  at  once  on  the 
part  of  the  Peers  by  the  committal  of  the  prelates  who  had  signed 
it  to  the  Tower.  But  the  contest  gave  a  powerful  aid  to  the 
Cavaliers  projects  of  the  King.  The  courtiers  declared  openly  that  the 
Round-  rabbling  of  the  bishops  proved  that  there  "was  no  free  Parliament/' 
heads  ancj  strove  to  bring  about  fresh  outrages  by  gathering  troops  of 
officers  and  soldiers  of  fortune,  who  were  seeking  for  employment 
in  the  Irish  war,  and  pitting  them  against  the  crowds  at  Whitehall. 
The  brawls  of  the  two  parties,  who  gave  each  other  the  nicknames 
of  "  Roundheads "  and  "  Cavaliers,"  created  fresh  alarm  in  the 
Parliament  ;  but  Charles  persisted  in  refusing  it  a  guard.  "  On  the 
honour  of  a  King,"  he  engaged  to  defend  them  from  violence  as 


WILLIAM    LENTHALL,    SPEAKER    OF    THE    HOUSE    OF    COMMONS. 

From  a  copy  by  Thomas  Athow  (in  Sutherland  collection,  Bodleian 

Library)  of  a  picture  formerly  at  Burford  Priory. 


1642 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1133 

completely  as  his  own   children,  but  the   answer  had   hardly   been      sec.  vi 

given   when  his  Attorney  appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Lords,  and        The 

accused    Hampden,    Pym,    Hollis,    Strode,    and    Haselrig  of  high     UAMENT 

1640 
treason  in  their  correspondence  with  the  Scots.       A  herald-at-arms         to 

appeared  at  the  bar  of  the  Commons,  and  demanded  the  surrender  — 
of  the  five  members.  If  Charles  believed  himself  to  be  within 
legal  forms,  the  Commons  saw  a  mere  act  of  arbitrary  violence  in  a 
charge  which  proceeded  personally  from  the  King,  which  set  aside 
the  most  cherished  privileges  of  Parliament,  and  summoned  the 
accused  before  a  tribunal  which  had  no  pretence  to  a  jurisdiction 
over  them.  The  Commons  simply  promised  to  take  the  demand 
into  consideration,  and  again  requested  a  guard.  "  I  will  reply  to- 
morrow," said  the  King.  On  the  morrow  he  summoned  the  Jan.  4, 
gentlemen  who  clustered  round  Whitehall  to  follow  him,  and, 
embracing  the  Queen,  promised  her  that  in  an  hour  he  would 
return  master  of  his  kingdom.  A  mob  of  Cavaliers  joined  him  as 
he  left  the  palace,  and  remained  in  Westminster  Hall  as  Charles, 
accompanied  by  his  nephew,  the  Elector-Palatine,  entered  the  House 
of  Commons.  "  Mr.  Speaker,"  he  said,  "  I  must  for  a  time  borrow 
your  chair  ! "  He  paused  with  a  sudden  confusion  as  his  eye  fell 
on  the  vacant  spot  where  Pym  commonly  sate  :  for  at  the  news  of 
his  approach  the  House  had  ordered  the  five  members  to  withdraw. 
"  Gentlemen,"  he  began  in  slow  broken  sentences,  "  I  am  sorry  for 
this  occasion  of  coming  unto  you.  Yesterday  I  sent  a  Sergeant-at- 
arms  upon  a  very  important  occasion,  to  apprehend  some  that  by 
my  command  were  accused  of  high  treason,  whereunto  I  did  expect 
obedience,  and  not  a  message."  Treason,  he  went  on,  had  no 
privilege,  "and  therefore  I  am  come  to  know  if  any  of  these  persons 
that  were  accused  are  here."  There  was  a  dead  silence,  only 
broken  by  his  reiterated  "  I  must  have  them  wheresoever  I  find 
them."  He  again  paused,  but  the  stillness  was  unbroken.  Then 
he  called  out,  "Is  Mr.  Pym  here?"  There  was  no  answer;  and 
Charles,  turning  to  the  Speaker,  asked  him  whether  the  five  mem- 
bers were  there.  Lenthall  fell  on  his  knees  ;  "  I  have  neither  eyes 
to  see, "  he  replied,  "  nor  tongue  to  speak  in  this  place,  but  as  this 
House  is  pleased  to  direct  me."  "  Well,  well, "  Charles  angrily 
retorted,  "  'tis  no  matter.  I  think  my  eyes  are  as  good  as 
another's  !  "     There  was  another  long  pause,  while  he  looked  care- 


wuiwjw  j«  »i0l 


B-  ■  ■•  .    ■    ■    ■  '    ,r  ,  '; 

•         ■ 


«~- 


f  *:'c't 


• 


/ 


.: 


:  : 


fe 


; 


•■  *  ' 


1  '"' 


*S<*1 


FACSIMILE    OF    PART    OF    SIR     RALPH    VERNEY's     NOTES     OF    THE    LONG 

PARLIAMENT. 
"  ^Temoirs  of  the   J'crney  Family." 


.  —m 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


ll3S 


fully  over  the  ranks  of  members.  u  I  see,"  he  said  at  last,  "  all  the 
birds  are  flown.  I  do  expect  you  will  send  them  to  me  as  soon  as 
they  return  hither."  If  they  did  not,  he  added,  he  would  seek  them 
himself;  and  with  a  closing  protest  that  he  never  intended  any 
force,  "he  went  out  of  the  House,"  says  an  eye-witness, "  in  a  more 
discontented  and  angry  passion  than  he  came  in." 

Nothing  but  the  absence  of  the  five  members,  and  the  calm 
dignity  of  the  Commons,  had  prevented  the  King's  outrage  from 
ending  in  bloodshed. 
"It  was  believed,"  says 
Whitelock,  who  was 
present  at  the  scene 
"  that  if  the  King  had 
found  them  there,  and 
called  in  his  guards 
to  have  seized  them, 
the  members  of  the 
House  would  have  en- 
deavoured the  defence 
of  them,  which  might 
have  proved  a  very  un- 
happy and  sad  busi- 
ness." Five  hundred 
gentlemen  of  the  best 
blood  in  England 
would  hardly  have 
stood  tamely  by  while 
the  bravoes  of  White- 
hall laid  hands  on  their 
leaders  in  the  midst  of 
the  Parliament.  But 
Charles  was  blind  to 
the  danger  of  his 
course.  The  five  mem- 
bers had   taken   refuge 

in  the  city,  and  it  was  there  that  on  the  next  day  the  King 
himself  demanded  their  surrender  from  the  aldermen  at  Guild- 
hall.      Cries    of    "  Privilege  "    rang    round    him    as    he    returned 


Sec.  VI 

The 
Long  Par- 
liament 

1640 

TO 

1642 


The    Eve 

of  the 
War 


AN     ENGLISH    ARCHER. 
Gervase  Markham,   il  Art  of  Archerie,"  1034. 


1136 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  VI 

The 
Long  Par- 
liament 

1640 

TO 
I642 


Prepara- 
tions for 
War 


through  the  streets  :    the  writs  issued   for  the   arrest   of   the   five 
were  disregarded  by  the  Sheriffs,  and  a  proclamation  issued   four 
days  later,  declaring  them  traitors,  passed  without  notice.     Terror 
drove  the  Cavaliers  from  Whitehall,  and  Charles  stood  absolutely 
alone ;    for   the    outrage   had   severed   him    for  the    moment    from 
his   new   friends  in  the  Parliament,  and  from  the  ministers,  Falk- 
land  and   Colepepper,  whom   he  had  chosen  among  them.       But 
lonely    as   he  was,  Charles  had   resolved  on  war.      The    Earl    of 
Newcastle  was  despatched  to  muster  a  royal  force  in  the  north  ; 
and  on  the  tenth   of  January  news  that  the   five  members  were 
about  to  return  in  triumph    to  Westminster  drove  Charles    from 
Whitehall.     He  retired  to  Hampton  Court  and  to  Windsor,  while 
the  Trained   Bands  of  London   and  Southwark  on  foot,  and   the 
London   watermen  on  the   river,  all   sworn  "  to  guard  the  Parlia- 
ment, the  Kingdom,  and  the  King,"  escorted  Pym  and  his  fellow- 
members    along  the   Thames  to   the   House   of  Commons.     Both 
sides  prepared  for  the  coming  struggle.       The  Queen  sailed  from 
Dover  with    the   Crown  jewels    to    buy    munitions    of  war.     The 
Cavaliers  again    gathered  round  the  King,  and  the  royalist  press 
flooded  the  country  with  State  papers  drawn  up  by  Hyde.     On  the 
other  hand,   the  Commons   resolved   by  vote  to  secure  the   great 
arsenals  of  the  kingdom,  Hull,  Portsmouth  and  the  Tower  ;  while 
mounted    processions    of  freeholders    from    Buckinghamshire  and 
Kent  traversed  London  on  their  way  to  St.   Stephen's,  vowing  to 
live  and  die  with  the  Parliament.       The  Lords  were  scared  out  of 
their  policy  of  obstruction  by  Pym's  bold  announcement  of  the  new 
position  taken  by  the  House  of  Commons.     "  The  Commons,"  said 
their  leader,  "  will  be  glad  to  have  your   concurrence  and  help  in 
saving  the  kingdom  ;  but  if  they  fail  of  it,  it  should  not  discourage 
them  in  doing  their  duty.       And  whether  the  kingdom   be   lost   or 
saved,  they  shall  be  sorry  that  the  story  of  this  present   Parliament 
should  tell  posterity  that  in  so  great  a  danger  and  extremity  the 
House    of   Commons    should    be    enforced    to   save   the    kingdom 
alone."      The  effect  of  Pym's  words  was  seen  in  the  passing  of  the 
bill  for  excluding  bishops  from   the   House   of  Lords.      The   great 
point,  however,  was  to  secure  armed  support  from  the  nation  at 
large,  and  here  both  sides  were  in   a   difficulty.     Previous   to  the 
innovations  introduced  by  the  Tudors,  and  which  had  been  already 


. 


•  -  ».  m  mm     ;+ 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


'i37 


questioned  by  the  Commons  in  a  debate  on  pressing  soldiers,  the      sec.  vi 
King  in  himself  had  no  power  of  calling  on  his  subjects  generally        The 

\-» ONG    rAR* 
LIAMENT 

I64.O 

TO 
I642 


WILLIAM     CAVENDISH,    EARL    (AFTERWARDS     DUKE)     OF     NEWCASTLE. 
From  an  engraving  by  Hoil  of  a  picture  by   Vandyck,  in  the  collection  of  Earl  Spencer. 


to  bear  arms,  save  for  purposes  of  restoring  order  or  meeting 
foreign  invasion.  On  the  other  hand,  no  one  contended  that  such 
a  power  had  ever  been  exercised  by  the  two   Houses  without  the 


n38 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP 


sec,  vi      King  ;  and  Charles  steadily  refused  to  consent  to  a  Militia  bill,  in 
the        which    the   command    of  the   national    force    was    given    in  everv 

Long  Par-  o  j 

i.iament     county  to  men  devoted  to  the  Parliamentary  cause.      Both  parties 

TO 
I642 

THE 

Exercife  of  the  English,in  the 

Militia  of  the  Kingdome  of 

ENGLAND. 


MILITIAMEN. 

Temp.    Charles    I. 

Title-page  of  a    Tract. 


therefore  broke  through  constitutional  precedent,  the  Parliament  in 

appointing  the  Lord  Lieutenants  who  commanded  the  Militia  by 

Outbreak    ordinance  of  the  two  Houses,  Charles   in   levying   forces   by  royal 

of  War     commissions  of  array.     The  King's  great  difficulty  lay  in  procuring 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


I][39 


arms,  and  on  the  twenty-third  of  April  he  suddenly  appeared  before 
Hull,  the  magazine  of  the  north,  and  demanded  admission.  The 
new  governor,  Sir  John  Hotham,  fell  on  his  knees,  but  refused  to 
open  the  gates  :  and  the  avowal  of  his  act  by  the  Parliament  was 
followed  by  the  witndrawal  of  the  royalist  party  among  its  members 
from  their  seats  at  Westminster.  Falkland,  Colepepper  and  Hyde, 
with  thirty-two  peers  and  sixty  members  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, joined  Charles  at  York  ;  and  Lyttelton,  the  Lord  Keeper, 
followed  with  the  Great  Seal.  They  aimed  at  putting  a  check  on 
the  King's  projects  of  war,  and  their  efforts  were  backed  by  the 
general  opposition  of  the  country.  A  great  meeting  of  the  York- 
shire freeholders  which  he  convened  on  Hey  worth  Moor  ended  in 


Sec.  VI 

The 
Long  Par- 
liament 

1640 

TO 
I642 

May  1642 


MEDAL    TO    COMMEMORATE    THE    DEATH    OF    SIR    JOHN    HOTHAM. 

Made  by  Thomas  Simon,  the  great  medallist,  who  worked  for  the  Parliamentary  party. 

Unique  medal,  in  the  British  Museum, 


a  petition  praying  him  to  be  reconciled  to  the  Parliament,  and 
in  spite  of  gifts  of  plate  from  the  Universities  and  nobles  of  his 
party,  arms  and  money  were  still  wanting  for  his  new  levies. 
The  two  Houses,  on  the  other  hand,  gained  in  unity  and  vigour 
by  the  withdrawal  of  the  royalists.  The  militia  was  rapidly 
enrolled,  Lord  Warwick  named  to  the  command  of  the  fleet, 
and  a  loan  opened  in  the  city  to  which  the  women  brought 
even  their  wedding  rings.  The  tone  of  the  two  Houses  had 
risen  with  the  threat  of  force  :  and  their  last  proposals  demanded 
the  powers  of  appointing  and  dismissing  the  royal  ministers, 
naming   guardians    for    the    royal    children,  and  of  virtually  con- 


1140 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  vi     trolling  military,  civil,  and  religious  affairs.     "  If  I  granted  your 
the       demands,"  replied  Charles,   "  I  should  be  no  more  than  the  mere 

Long  Par- 
liament    phantom  of  a  king." 
1640       r  b 

TO 
1642 


REVERSE    OF    SECOND    GREAT    SEAL    OF    CHARLES    I.,    1627 — 164O0 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1141 


Section  VII.— The   Civil  War.     July  1642— Aug.  1646 

^Authorities. — To  those  before  given  we  may  add  Warburton's  biography  of 
Prince  Rupert,  Mr.  Clements  Markham's  life  of  Fairfax,  the  Fairfax  Corre- 
spondence, and  Ludlow's  "Memoirs."  Sprigg's  "Anglia  Rediviva"  gives  an 
account  of  the  New  Model  and  its  doings.  For  Cromwell,  the  primary  authority 
is  Mr.  Carlyle's  "  Life  and  Letters,"  an  invaluable  store  of  documents,  edited 
with  the  care  of  an  antiquary  and  the  genius  of  a  poet.  Clarendon,  who  now 
becomes  of  greater  value,  gives  a  good  account  of  the  Cornish  rising.] 


Sec.  VII 

The  Civu 
War 

1642 

TO 

1646 


The  breaking  off  of  negotiations  was  followed  on  both  sides 

by  preparations  for  immediate  war.     Hampden,  Pym,  and  Hollis 

became  the  guiding  spirits  of  a  Committee  of  Public  Safety  which 

was  created    by  Parliament  as  its  administrative  organ  ;   English 

and  Scotch  officers  were  drawn  from  the  Low  Countries,  and  Lord 

Essex  named  commander  of  an  army,  which  soon  rose  to  twenty 

thousand   foot   and   four  thousand  horse.     The  confidence  on  the 

Parliamentary  side  was  great  ;  "  we  all  thought  one  battle  would 

decide,"  Baxter  confessed  after  the  first  encounter  ;  for  the  King 

was  almost  destitute   of  money    and    arms,    and    in    spite    of  his 

strenuous    efforts    to    raise    recruits    he    was    embarrassed    by    the 

reluctance  of  his  own  adherents  to  begin  the  struggle.     Resolved, 

however,  to  force  on  a  contest,  he  raised  the  Royal  Standard  at 

Nottingham  "  on  the  evening  of  a  very  stormy  and  tempestuous 

day,"  but  the  country  made  no  answer  to  his  appeal  ;  while  Essex, 

who  had  quitted  London  amidst  the  shouts  of  a  great  multitude, 

with  orders  from  the  Parliament  to  follow  the  King,  '4  and  by  battle 

or  other  way  rescue  him  from  his  perfidious  counsellors  and  restore 

him  to  Parliament,"  mustered  his  army  at  Northampton.     Charles 

had  but  a  handful  of  men,   and   the   dash  of  a   few  regiments   of 

horse    wrould    have    ended    the    war ;    but    Essex    shrank    from    a 

decisive  stroke,  and  trusted  to  reduce  the  King  to  submission  by  a 

show   of  force.     As  Charles  fell  back  on    Shrewsbury,  Essex  too 

moved  westward  and  occupied  Worcester.     But  the  whole  face  of 
Vol.  Ill— 14 


Edgehil) 


Aug.  22 


1142 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP.. 


Sec.  vii  affairs  suddenly  changed.     Catholics  and  royalists  rallied  fast  to 

The  Civil  the  King's   standard,  and   a  bold  march  on   London  drew  Essex 

War  ° 

from  Worcester  to  protect  the   capital.     The   two   armies  fell   in 

1646  with  one  another  on  the  field  of  Edgehill,  near  Banbury.     The 

Oct.  23, 
1642 


1642 

TO 


Robert  ditvtbxux.  Eahxx  ot  tsszx  hu  zxclllescx.  I-ord  C£N£KAJUL  <se. 

the  Tare e*  tsi£*d  by  tkeAuXhorrty  ot  the  PkrlUmrrafc    Tot  th*  dtfi-nct.  of  tfa«  Kutf  Hut  JKiz^gJamj* 

After   IV.   Hollar- 


encounter  was  a  surprise,  and  the  battle  which  followed  was  little 
more  than  a  confused  combat  of  horse.  At  its  outset  the  desertion 
of  Sir  Faithful  Fortescue  with  a  whole  regiment  threw  the 
Parliamentary  forces   into  disorderv  while   the   royalist    horse    on 


tJ 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1 143 


either  wing  drove  the  cavalry  of  the  enemy  from  the  field  ;  but  the      Sbc.  vii 

foot  soldiers  of  Lord  Essex  broke  the  infantry  which  formed  the    the  Civil 

War 
centre  of  the  King  s  line,  and  though  his  nephew,  Prince  Rupert,        1642 

brought  back  his  squadrons  in  time  to  save  Charles  from  capture        1646 


PRINCE      RUPERT. 

Mezzotint  by  himself. 


or  flight,  the  night  fell  on  a  drawn  battle.     The  moral  advantage 
however,    rested    with    the    King.       Essex    had    learned    that    his 
troopers    were    no   match  for  the   Cavaliers,   and    his    withdrawal 
to  Warwick  left  open  the  road  to  the  capital.      Rupert  pressed  for 


H44 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  vii     an    instant   march   on   London,   but  the   proposal   found    stubborn 
The~c~ivil    opponents    among    the    moderate     royalists,    who    dreaded     the 

War 
1642 

TO 
I  G46 


PILLAR    OF    STAIRCASE,    CHRIST     CHURCH,    OXFORD. 
Built  c.   1640. 


Charles  at  complete   triumph  of  Charles  as  much  as  his  defeat.     The   King 
xfor       therefore  paused  for  the  time  at  Oxford,  where  he  was  received 


, 


oaifi 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


ii45 


1642 

TO 
I646 


with  uproarious  welcome  ;  and  when  the  cowardico  of  its  garrison  Sec  vii 
delivered  Reading  to  Rupert's  horse,  and  his  daring  capture  of  The  civil 
Brentford  drew  the  royal  army  in  his  support  almost  to  the  walls 
of  the  capital,  the  panic  of  the  Londoners  was  already  over,  and 
the  junction  of  their  trainbands  with  the  army  of  Essex  forced 
Charles  to  fall  back  again  on  his  old  quarters.  But  though  the 
Parliament  rallied  quickly  from  the  blow  of  Edgehill,  the  war,  as 
its  area  widened  through  the  winter,  went  steadily  for  the  King. 
The  fortification  of  Oxford  gave  him  a  firm  hold  on  the  midland 
counties  ;  while   the   balance  of  the  two  parties  in  the  north  was 


£$    GOLD     PIECE    OF     CHARLES     I. 
Coined  at  Oxford,  1643. 


overthrown  by  the  march  of  the  Earl  of  Newcastle,  with  the  force 
he  had  raised  in  Northumberland,  upon  York.  Lord  Fairfax,  the 
Parliamentary  leader  in  that  county,  was  thrown  back  on  the 
manufacturing  towns  of  the  West  Riding,  where  Puritanism  found 
its  stronghold  ;  and  the  arrival  of  the  Queen  with  arms  from  Feb.  1643 
Holland  encouraged  the  royal  army  to  push  its  scouts  across  the 
Trent,  and  threaten  the  eastern  counties,  which  held  firmly  for  the 
Parliament.  The  stress  of  the  war  was  shown  by  the  vigorous 
exertions  of  the  two  Houses.  Some  negotiations  which  had  gone 
on  into  the  spring  were  broken  off  by  the  old  demand  that  the 
King  should  return  to  his  Parliament ;  London  was  fortified  ;  and 
a  tax  of  two  millions  a  year  was  laid  on  the  districts  which  adhered 


n46  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  vii     to  the  Parliamentary  cause.     Essex,  whose  army  had  been  freshly 
The  Civil    equipped,  was  ordered  to  advance  upon  Oxford  ;  but  though  the 
1642       King  held  himself  ready  to  fall  back  on  the  west,  the  Earl  shrank 
1646       from  again  risking  his  raw  army  in  an  encounter.     He  confined 
himself  to    the    recapture  of  Reading,   and    to    a    month    of   idle 
encampment  round  Brill. 
^  The  But  while  disease  thinned  his  ranks  and  the  royalists  beat  up 

Rising     his   quarters   the  war  went   more   and   more  for  the   King.      The 
inaction  of  Essex   enabled   Charles  to  send   a  part  of  his  small 
force  at  Oxford  to  strengthen  a  royalist   rising   in   the  west.     No- 
where was  the  royal  cause  to  take  so  brave  or  noble  a  form  as 
among  the  Cornishmen.     Cornwall  stood  apart  from  the  general 
life  of  England  :  cut  off  from  it  not  only  by  differences  of  blood 
and  speech,  but  by  the  feudal  tendencies  of  its  people,  who  clung 
with   a  Celtic  loyalty  to   their   local  chieftains,  and   suffered  their 
fidelity  to  the   Crown   to  determine  their  own.     They  had   as   yet 
done  little  more  than  keep  the  war  out  of  their  own  county  ;  but 
the  march  of  a  small  Parliamentary  force  under  Lord   Stamford 
May  1643  upon    Launceston    forced    them    into    action.     A    little    band    of 
Cornishmen  gathered  round  the  chivalrous  Sir  Bevil  Greenvil,  "  so 
destitute   of  provisions  that  the   best  officers  had  but  a  biscuit  a 
day,"  and  with  only  a  handful  of  powder  for  the  whole  force  ;  but 
starving  and  outnumbered  as  they  were,  they  scaled  the  steep  rise 
of  Stratton   Hill,  sword   in    hand,   and    drove   Stamford   back    on 
Exeter,    with    a    loss    of   two    thousand    men,   his    ordnance    and 
baggage  train.       Sir    Ralph    Hopton,    the    best    of    the    royalist 
generals,   took   the  command  of  their  army   as  it   advanced   into 
Somerset,  and  drew  the  stress  of  the  war  into  the  West.      Essex 
despatched  a  picked  force  under  Sir  William  Waller  to  check  their 
advance  ;  but  Somerset  was  already  lost  ere  he  reached  Bath,  and 
the   Cornishmen  stormed  his   strong  position  on  Lansdowne  Hill 
in  the  teeth  of  his  guns.     But  the  stubborn  fight  robbed  the  victors 
of  their  leaders ;  Hopton  was  wounded,  and  Greenvil  slain  ;  while 
soon  after,  at  the  siege  of  Bristol,  fell  two  other  heroes  of  the  little 
army,  Sir  Nicholas  Slanning  and  Sir  John  Trevanion,  "  both  young, 
neither  of  them  above  eight  and   twenty,  of  entire  friendship  to 
one  another,   and   to  Sir  Bevil   Greenvil."     Waller,  beaten   as  he 
July  1643  was,   hung  on  their  weakened    force  as  it    moved   for   aid    upon 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1147 


Oxford,  and  succeeded  in  cooping  up  the   foot  in   Devizes.     But  Se.-.  vii 

the  horse  broke  through,  and  joining  a  force   which   Charles   had  ™^VIL 
sent   to   their  relief,  turned   back,    and    dashed  Waller's  army    to        1642 
pieces    in    a    fresh    victory    on    Roundway    Down.      The    Cornish        1646 


SIR     BEVIL    GREENVIL. 
Picture  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Bernard  Grenville. 


rising  seemed  to  decide  the  fortune  of  the  war  ;  and  the  succours 
which  his  Queen  was  bringing  him  from  the  army  of  the  North 
determined  Charles  to  make  a  fresh  advance  upon  London.  He 
was  preparing  for  this  advance,  when  Rupert  in  a  daring  raid  from 


1 148 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec,  vii     Oxford  on  the   Parliamentary  army,   met   a   party  of  horse   with 
the  civil    Hampden    at     its     head,    on     Chalgrove     field.       The     skirmish 

War  ° 

1642       ended    in    the    success     of     the     royalists,    and     Hampden    was 

1646       seen    riding   off    the    field  before    the    action    was    done,    "  which 

he  never  used  to   do,"    with    his    head    bending   down,   and    rest- 

Death  of  ing    his    hands  upon  the    neck  of   his    horse.     He   was    mortally 

wounded,  and  his  death  seemed  an  omen  of  the  ruin  of  the  cause 


AN    ENGLISH    TRADESMAN'S    WIFE    AND     CITIZENS     DAUGHTER. 
Hollar,   ''''Aula   Veneris,"  1649. 


he  loved.  Disaster  followed  disaster.  Essex,  more  and  more 
anxious  for  a  peace,  fell  back  on  Uxbridge  ;  while  a  cowardly 
surrender  of  Bristol  to  Prince  Rupert  gave  Charles  the  second 
city  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  mastery  of  the  West.  The  news  fell 
on  the  Parliament  "  like  a  sentence  of  death."  The  Lords  debated 
nothing  but  proposals  of  peace.  London  itself  was  divided  ;  "  a 
great  multitude  of  the  wives  of  substantial  citizens  "  clamoured 
at   the   door  of  the   Commons   for   peace  ;  and  a  flight   of  six  of 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1149 


the   few    peers   who    remained    at    Westminster    to    the    camp    at 
Oxford  proved  the  general  despair  of  the  Parliament's  success. 

From  this  moment,  however,  the  firmness  of  the  Parliamentary 
leaders  began  slowly  to  reverse  the  fortunes  of  the  war.  If 
Hampden  was  gone,  Pym  remained.  The  spirit  of  the  Commons 
was  worthy  of  their  great  leader  :  and  Waller  was  received  on  his 
return  from  Roundway  Hill  "  as  if  he  had  brought  the  King  prisoner 
with  him."  A  new  army  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Lord 
Manchester  to  check  the  progress  of  Newcastle  in  the  North.  But 
in  the  West  the  danger  was  greatest.  Prince  Maurice  continued 
his  brother  Rupert's  career  of  success,  and  his  conquest  of  Barn- 
staple and  Exeter  secured  Devon  for  the  King.  Gloucester  alone 
interrupted  the  communications  between  his  forces  in  Bristol  and 
in  the  north  ;  and  Charles  moved  against  the  city,  with  a  hope  of 
a  speedy  surrender.  But  the  gallant  resistance  of  the  town  called 
Essex  to  its  relief.  It  was  reduced  to  a  single  barrel  of  powder 
when  the  Earl's  approach  forced  Charles  to  raise  the  siege  ;  and 
the  Puritan  army  fell  steadily  back  again  on  London,  after  an 
indecisive  engagement  near  Newbury,  in  which  Lord  Falkland  fell 
"  ingeminating  '  Peace,  peace  !  :  '  and  the  London  trainbands  flung 
Rupert's  horsemen   roughly    off    their    front    of    pikes.       In   this 


VII 

The  Civil. 

1642 

TO 
I646 

The 
Covenant 


Sept.  6 


HIGHLAND      DIRK. 

Seventeenth  Century. 

Antiquarian  Museum,  Edinburgh. 


posture  of  his  affairs  nothing  but  a  great  victory  could  have  saved 
the  King,  for  the  day  which  witnessed  the  triumphant  return  of 
Essex  witnessed  the  solemn  taking-  of  the  Covenant.  Pvm  had 
resolved  at  last  to  fling  the  Scotch  sword  into  the  wavering 
balance  ;  and  in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  Parliament's  cause  Sir 
Harry  Vane  had  been  despatched  to  Edinburgh  to  arrange  the 
terms  on  which  the  aid  of  Scotland  would  be  given.     First  amongst     LeaSJ*e 

0  &  with 

them  stood  the  demand  of  a  "  unity  in  Religion  ; "  an  adoption,  in    Scotland 


ii5° 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  vii     other    words,    of    the    Presbyterian    system    by    the    Church  of 
The  Civil    England.     Events  had  moved  so  rapidly  since  the  earlier  debates 

War  & 


1642 

TO 
I646 


on  Church  government  in  the  Commons  that  some  arrangement 
of  this  kind  had  become  a  necessity.  The  bishops  to  a  man,  and 
the  bulk  of  the  clergy,  whose  bent  was  purely  episcopal,  had 
joined  the  royal  cause,  and  were  being  expelled  from  their  livings 
as  "  delinquents."     Some  new  system  of  Church  government  was 

imperatively  called  for  by  the 
religious  necessities  of  the 
country  ;  and  though  Pym 
and  the  leading  statesmen 
were  still  in  opinion  moderate 
Episcopalians,  the  growing 
force  of  Presbyterianism,  and 
still  more  the  needs  of  the 
war,  forced  them  to  seek  such 
a  system  in  the  adoption  of 
the  Scotch  discipline.  Scot- 
land, for  its  part,  saw  that  the 
triumph  of  the  Parliament 
was  necessary  for  its  own 
security ;  and  whatever  diffi- 
culties stood  in  the  way  of 
Vane's  wary  and  rapid  ne- 
gotiations were  removed  by 
the  policy  of  the  King.  While 
the  Parliament  looked  for  aid 
to  the  north,  Charles  had 
been  seeking  assistance  from 
the  Irish  rebels.  The  mas- 
sacre had  left  them  the 
objects  of  a  vengeful  hate  such  as  England  had  hardly  known 
before,  but  with  Charles  they  were  simply  counters  in  his  game 
of  king-craft.  The  conclusion  of  a  truce  with  the  Confederate 
Catholics  left  the  army  under  Lord  Ormond,  which  had  hitherto 
held  their  revolt  in  check,  at  the  King's  disposal  for  service 
in  England.  With  the  promise  of  Catholic  support  Charles 
might    even    think    himself    strong    enough    to    strike     a     blow 


MOULD     FOR     MAKING     COMMUNION- 
TOKENS. 
Seventeenth  Century. 
Burns,   :<  Old  Scottish  Communion  Plate." 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


nii 


at  the  government  in  Edinburgh  ;  and  negotiations  were  soon 
opened  with  the  Irish  Catholics  to  support  by  their  landing  in 
Argyleshire  a  rising  of  the  Highlanders  under  Montrose.  None  of 
the  King's  schemes  proved  so  fatal  to  his  cause  as  these.  As  the 
rumour  of  his  intentions  spread,  officer  after  officer  in  his  own 
army  flung  down  their  commissions,  the  peers  who  had  fled  to 
Oxford  fled  back  again  to  London,  and  the  royalist  reaction  in  the 
Parliament  itself  came  utterly  to  an  end.  Scotland,  anxious  for 
its  own  safety,  hastened  to  sign  the  Covenant ;  and  the  Commons, 
"  with  uplifted  hands,"  swore  in  St.  Margaret's  church  to  observe 
it.  They  pledged  themselves  to  "  bring  the  Churches  of  God  in 
the  three  Kingdoms  to  the  nearest  conjunction  and  uniformity  in 


SBC  VII 

The  Civil 
War 

1642 

TO 
I646 


Sept.  15 


England 
swears 
to  the 

Covenant 


STAMP    FOR    MAKING    COMMUNION-TOKENS. 

Seventeenth  Century. 

Burns,  "  Old  Scottish  Communion  Plate." 


religion,  confession  of  faith,  form  of  Church  government,  direc- 
tion for  worship  and  catechizing  ;  that  we,  and  our  posterity  after 
us,  may  as  brethren  live  in  faith  and  love,  and  the  Lord  may 
delight  to  live  in  the  midst  of  us  "  :  to  extirpate  Popery,  prelacy, 
superstition,  schism,  and  profaneness  ;  to  "  preserve  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  Parliament,  and  the  liberties  of  the  Kingdom  ;  " 
to  punish  malignants  and  opponents  of  reformation  in  Church 
and  State  ;  to  "  unite  the  two  Kingdoms  in  a  firm  peace  and  union 
to  all  posterity."  The  Covenant  ended  with  a  solemn  acknow- 
ledgement of  national  sin,  and  a  vow  of  reformation.  "  Our  true, 
unfeigned  purpose,  desire,  and  endeavour  for  ourselves  and  all 
others  under  our  power  and  charge,  both  in  public  and  private,  in 


Sept.  25 


'     f  avfolemn  a      ? 

Llagvl  and  coxtnant. 

for  Reformation,  and  defence  of 
Religion  the  Honour  and  haxrpmefle, 
of  the  king.  Jtnd  the  Peace  uid  Uierv  of  the 

mrrr  fcinffaoow     of 


„_77um,  JS*svns  Aniabt/  Ciendamtn.   L't/mrnr   frurye  ~cs   if i  niters  Sthr  G&'pei.  and  Cmutwus 
eftMJert*  w.  the  Avp&ms  p  EogUnd,  SexytUnd.  +nU  tt^lirui,   *r  a*  /Wtu/V^  /«*-«/  *">^''' 
j-«r  fcinj    •*--*-*  fWwt?  efene  r-e/mrm^l  LKeLataiL.  ken  -*j  t^rrr  cur  m*  &**  Chrr  s+ M*-i  aeul  the  *Jv*jvt 
wemtf&ie  kuyadame  e*  ourLtmi  ojiJ.  Jeajuner  fy'us  ChrtA.  the  Hxnvur  *nJ  "Li/tlti^  ft  tyfthe  kjn#j  Xj 
ie£  mJtus  p^ierrfr  **d  *ke  pwpu^iju/  /.therp-    Sa/rir  a  nd  Peace  of  the  Kuutdfv  'ushereui  evert 
0mm  prweJe  Ctn+i/u**  te  me-kedml      anUaJUntl*  m-CnM  eke  trna^ervur  *nj  tieeJr  PteU.  Cen/jpira  ■ 
not  Attemftr    and  PntctLCA/  of  the  £  nemiAf  gftfcU,  ajaisyt  the  true  RcUqivtC  xrui  prv's'frr?  the 
nyf  i  n  alLwUcee    e/fcct*4r'  **  *?*  *krve  ktfif&iv  eise*jLnc*  the  Fjrftrm6e£Lr n  ef  Kelgtern.  tnl 
it*  tr  mueh  thetr  "MC    rawer  ojiJ  vra/Umjfuon      asr  ff  date  ana.  at  Our  hr.e  uieredcd  +mj  ccer. 
eve*     u,k*r*<r*  ike  J*g%  r^b/UUefthe  Church  mfkutfdem,  tf  IreUnd.    the  L-W^'eJ  cl^ 
tefthe  Cfutrch  a*U  %J*tfd*m  c/  £ngLuuL    AtU  the  dmjrf*™*fj/Ute  eflhr  Church  +nZ  hufc  - 
Jem  afScotJApa,  at? present  arui  puhuaue  TeiimsnjeJ  \yfhs**r  'new  -tf  -*£   'ffter  etker 

tne+*is  f/SupmwewxtwK    Kemeyfransv.  Pfvtg4mJ*e>t%j-    a.rimi-^u/'e'nytes '\    W  the  r^  ^l<^"  9t  ■St~r 

r  •_/*-<   aUr  /W|f*ni/'w»   ujto—  Ru±m  setd  Z)*frw^/»i      n \.Y*mine  a*  thj  c^menendeMe  em 
fffmSe^r  JtMif/fims  m   'ermer  tun^s    ar^the  FLx*-tpfr  rf  ^n./-  Terror  tex  ether  Xe^tenJ 

A  *-uMne£  enJ/elemM^  L*?ue 
mfteshtr  huHJetf     witn  t*ur 


_  arU the" LK+^fl,  */  OUefmrp* 
ifa-  metiurr  **Itle*u£*e>n.  rej'eived oetd  d* ie nm isie -J  L>  enter  InU  a  rt<-i--eP 
ftmd  Cet*m*mt  WkeretA.  we   +Ji  'u£/cri£e     m%d    •oak 


-V*.   ^ei+r*4ZMJ  u/fte  rcux  we   *u    u*<crt+e 

hmeUr  Lfad  Mf  *  the  rrwi  tyh  .<?*C      eU/we* 


I  £%ehe&,'\* 


AJCAj**.     •" 


TV  tt>rh^U.ilfo  with  A\  ftitljidiHi 
lie  endrjvour  the  dxfrove  ry  of  uh 
fuchjs  hivehnene-orttiAllbf  lace 
dun«Maltgtu.rU».  orev-dl  InAru 
•tnents'  by  hindering  tlteReforuU' 
hon  of  Religion,  dividing  the  King 
from  hif  people  or  erne  of  the  King  I 
•donir  from  another,  or  raikmg^- 
Tjchonor  parliey  imongd  the  peo- 
ple contrary  tothu  leig  ue  &•  Coue 
•nant  that  they  maybe  brought  to  pu 
■blicktruJl  and  receive  condigne  pit 
uulhinetaf  med£groeofthetr»o(re- 
ceyfhall  require  or  deferre.  orthefu 
prea  ludicaione*  of  both  Kingdoms: 
refpecrivtily  or oth err  having  powrt/ 
^■^rcm^ahem  forthja  efla^fhatl 


I   Thai  weihail  hncerelr.  really  andcorutintly.  th 
'jih  tijeGrtce  ofOod  eudea-vo  u.v  in  our  ftvrr  all  p 
•70  ■?£*  a.iux  calling.*-  the  prefervTitionot'the  Refbr- 
ined.  Religion  m  the  (Jiurch  oCStodanJ  i nDoo 
tnne.W'ormipDtfcipline  &•  Government againfi 
ourcoToonEnetniaj  the  retb-rtnationofT^cligi- 
on  ltvthe  kjugdonw  o(ZrjqbutJ \u\A.Indis2d.\nZ)oc\ 
rnne  »brfhipX>ifcipline  and  Governtnent,  accoi+ 
ding  to  the  Word  of  God  and  the  Example  of  the 
befl  Reformed  Churchej.  Andfhall  indeavour 
to  bring  the  Churches  of  God  in  the  three  ting 
dom;  tothe  neerert  coruun<5lion  and  Uniformi- 
ty in  Religion   Confeffion  ofraith,  R>rtnofChiai|ij 
metU, directory  for  ^rfrup  and  Cate< 
Thai  vce  and  our  pollen  ty  after  us  may 
'irrn  live  in  Faith  and  Love,  and  t 
nay  delight  to  dwell  in  the  mid; 
(left  of  of. 


i« flu  u-/W*  m*L 

>*-»■*-  ■-*--  <~ A — r» 

*.*^Lu  iL,.  Du,  J~  »  %, 

^*i  mtaiMaf  mm mj'  L  e-  tmm*r 
tArt  rWri  mm*ittt  mm'  mmtUams 


U  Tlul  we  Ihall  in  lite  manner   without  refpect  of  per 

■Ibnf  ino>4iour  the  extirpation  ofPopery  Prelacie  'that   u« 

/  Church  «o\t rnmt  nt  b>. Arch  Bilhony-Buriop*   (hei  r  Cnancelloi 

\  Jnd  ComilTanej  Deanj  Deans  and  Chaprexj-  ArchdeacoiiS  W 

•  all  other  EccleliiflicaU  Otficens  depending  on  that  Hierarchy^/ ' 

J^<£uperfiihon  Herefte  v5chifme  Prophaneneue  and  what 

^—^■xjoever  fhallbefouud  to  be  contrary  lolbundDoc. 

ne,  and  the  power  of  GodlinelTe  led  wr  partaXe  in 

lOtfaer  mctu  firvj  and  therbv  be  lndanfier  to  receivcof' 

lh«  I  r  pUgilfif.  anil  thjj  Ibe  Loixl  mab'  oiiir  md  Ku  Samron 


^  UL  Wr  fhall  with  the  fame  fit 
'Haility  and  confiancy  inour  (ev-traj 
Vocaitons,  endna-vour  with  < 
rtiateis  andLvej  mutually  to  pnrv 
Irrve  the  Rights  atui  Pri  valed'j 
ger  of  the  Pirliamenls:  and  the  I 
Laber-bes  ofthetinijdopiej  Jndl 
to  prefrrve  and  defend  thf  K^n^ 
Maieftics  perlon  and  irBtf^ontii 
in  the  prefervanon  ana.  cQ*enoej" 
of  the  true  Religion  ancLLiber  r 
-tios  of  the  kingdonoetf,  that  the  j 
World  may  beare  wilt  ~ 
our  coruciencos  ofcru^&A/ J 
alrie,  aud  that  we  have 
houghly  or  mtenhonsl 
djmiruih  hi*  Maielu"  ' 
rraudgiriai 
oerte  *      U 


fylir*~J. 


Jtr  mm  *4lKr  oUyJIimmii  f. 


'& 


imaxmmimtiw 


VT  Wefhall  alfo  acoorchng  to  our  plat-e^  or  callings  in 
thu  common  cwCc  ofReugion  Liherry  and  Peace  of 
the  kingdomexy  a/Tiit  anddefend  all  thofe  thai  enter  in 
to  thu  League  and  Covenant  in  the  maintairilg  S*pur| 
■iuittg  thereof  ind  Ihall  notluffer  our  lelvw  directly  or 
indj  rectly  by  oi+iailbever  combinalton  pertwafion  or  te^ 
rot  tc be  dewtded  k  withdrawn  from  this blefledUruo 
&-cxjnnmgta cm  whether  to  make  defection  to  the  Con- 
trary part  or  to  give  our  felvos  toadeteuable  mdiflereti. 
cy  or  neutrality  in  thvj  caufe- which  fomuch  cocerneth. 
the  glory  of  God  the  good  ofthe  Kincdomj  andhonotir 
of  me  king  i  but  fhaJT  all  the  day  cj  ofourlivcsiealoufly 
and  conftantiy  continue  therein  againli  all  oppoflbon 
and  promote  the  umr  according  to  ourpo-wr  again/I  all 
Lets  and  impedunentf  whatfocver,  an  what  we  are  not 
aMeoiirfclvestoilipprrileor  overcome  we  Ihall  revcalc 
anil  tnaA?  known  that  it  may  be  timely  preventrdor  retno 
vrcL  Allg4iirh  ut-  Ihjllrln  as  in  itir  AoKt  nf  C,<-A         m 


Ajtd  b«?c*ufe  theff  lutudomj   Arc  a \i til  y  of  <T\mi\y  CmJ  in  provT}C*rionj  ag^JTui 
God.  it  hu  S<m  IrCxjks  Oonft     mj  u  loo  manifeil  by  ctrrj>rcren*  difrrelTej  and  dan. 
gecf  tKrlVuuj  lh*r reof  We  profeffc  And  declare  before  Cod  md  the  world  our  unfiy 
neddrCre  to  be  Kuml>l«l  fo r  oJT^Jr  f o r  the  f>iv»  jfihcfc  kitiodoau  efpecojlr  <hal  «rr  hart 
not  mf  veottfbt  raltwdttie  tnefiiTnAislF  brrtef\\  of  the  OofpeL  tiuU  webax-r  oot  liihmied  tor 
Ibr  purrtj-  *.nd  powrr  thereof  And  tKu  nrlu»riwl  endeavored  to  receive  Cbrut  tn  our 
he«\Ai.  nor  lowalk  wmllit  afKim  inourlivrj  which  are  the  caufej  of  other  I  \rv  i-.J  trartf 
c/reltioiw.ro  much  abounding  aznonoA  Utf     A-nd  our  true  and  unfxyned  ptArpofeddire 
AndLcndeaygrur  for  our  fel^ej  And  All  othery  underour  j>ow^r  Andxhargc   both  in 
publitrt  and  in  private,  in  aH  duriet  we  owe  to  God  and  nun    to  Amend  our  liv  ej-  xn(i 
each  one  to  So  beibre  Another  in  the  LaAtnrar  of  a  rrall  rU-TC-rmJtion   that  the  Lord  may 
name  AwAv'hir  »»rA*h.  ancUiearf  inditfnAri^n    i\*ui.  eft  J'lilh  ll.efe  C^urche-T  and  rjnp 
dorrxr  in  n-ulb  and  peace      And  thtt  i  overwinl  *t  maae  in  tlir  niTlenceot  almiglitr 
God.  Ihe  5earcher  oTall  hearty   wub  alrue  inlniluii.  t.»  rfrformt  ihe  I  ame   arfwelkaiTan 
Twer  a»  thai  greal  da»  when  the  fecreta  or  all  bra,  t»  Ihall  be  difclofed     Mud  hiimWr  befro 
^^bintf  the  Lord  toftrenothen  tubyhu  ltol>.Spii  ifforlhu  end  andlo  bUAe our  deti, 
^Xjwj  Andprocodano/  mth  fitch  luccefle   a*-  mar  be  deliverance  andu/ety  tohaa 
^^  people  orencsuradflernriil  tootherChnQuii  Chvarcha/  (jroaniog  lander  or  i--1- 
~-.&l  ^grrofrhe  jroake  ofAnli-eivnlhan  Tyranny  lovcyne  in  tfierirne  or  lake  AJTocu 
i  ^aaditfvnfcfata  tothe  etorr  ofCod  the  rolar«em»al  o/rhr  riatiorfWiv  Cfcj 
Lj^,^^,^—    j^ie  part  mmm  rr*i*«u*litr  r*fOar«kA.ajiujriomj  WpuvT w|^li 


THE    SOLEMN    LEAGUE    AND    COVENANT,    ILLUSTRATED    BY    W.    HOLLAR,    1643. 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


ii 


:>j 


all  duties  we  owe  to  God  and  man,  is  to  amend  our  lives,  and  each 
one  to  go  before  another  in  the  example  of  a  real  reformation." 

The  conclusion  of  the  Covenant  had  been  the  last  work  of  Pym. 
A  "  Committee  of  the  Two  Kingdoms  "  which  was  entrusted  after 
his  death  in  December  with  the  conduct  of  the  war  and  of  foreign 
affairs  did  their  best  to  carry  out  the  plans  he  had  formed  for  the 
coming  year.  The  vast  scope  of  these  plans  bears  witness  to  his 
amazing  ability.  Three  strong  armies,  comprising  a  force  of  fifty 
thousand  men,  had  been  raised  for  the  coming  campaign.  Essex, 
with  the  army  of  the  centre,  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  watching 
the  king  at  Oxford.  Waller,  with  another  army,  was  to  hold  Prince 
Maurice  in  check  in  the  west.     The  force  of  fourteen  thousand  men 


Sec  vii 

The  Civil 
War 

1642 

1646 

Marston 
Moor 


MEDAL  OF  THE  EARL  OF  MANCHESTER. 

British  Museum. 


which  had  been  raised  by  the  zeal  of  the  eastern  counties,  and  in 
which  Cromwell's  name  was  becoming  famous  as  a  leader,  was 
raised  into  a  third  army  under  Lord  Manchester,  ready  to  co- 
operate in  Yorkshire  with  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax.  With  Alexander 
Leslie,  Lord  Leven,  at  its  head,  the  Scotch  army  crossed  the  border 
in  January  "in  a  great  frost  and  snow,"  and  Newcastle  was  forced 
to  hurry  northward  to  arrest  its  march.  His  departure  freed  the 
hands  of  Fairfax,  who  threw  himself  on  the  English  troops  from 
Ireland  that  had  landed  at  Chester,  and  after  cutting  them  to 
pieces  marched  as  rapidlv  back  to  storm  Selbv.  The  danger  in  his 
rear  called  back  Newcastle,  who  returned  from  confronting  the 
Scots    at    Durham    to    throw    himself   into    York,    where    he    was 


Diclovis.  33.  Martii.  1643, 

€  is  tl)iS  bap  CWereb  bp  tf)c  JLo^fi  $  Com 
uions  3lffembleb  in  parliament,  rijatno 
pcrfon  ojperfonstotyatfoebet,  boeatanp 
time  from  ftenecfojtl)  blip,  fell,  o?  tabefa 
pawn  02  crct)ange  anp  iF)0)fc,$ojfcs,£)ut; 
Kets,  Carabines,  13iQols,}Di&cS,  Co?flet£ 
0?  map  other  2rmeS,  inarfceb  ttntl)  ti)e 
marttes  abobc  fpecifieb,  tf)af  no  femtrt), 
(SOtvflnirt)  02  otljcr  pctfott  doc  upon  anp  pictencesiMjatfo; 
efoer,  citljcr  alter  02  Deface  the  marttc  abobc  fpcnficD,  bemg 
either  on  ^o;fe  o;  Slrmcs.  Jt  is  further  €>:bercb,  tljatm 
Cafe  anp  $02fc  02  ^ozfesmaruebtofththismarlic,  Qjaufali 
CicUr,  JLamc,  02  othertoifc  foi  the  pjefent  piouc  unfcraiccabie, 
<£ljat  tl)e  Conftablc  of  tl)c  ^ro\»nc  at  the  charge  of  that 
€otonc  talie  care  to  p2cfcrbe  fuel)  $?o:fcs  until!  tljep  can  be 
Cent  unto  fuel)  as  fljall  beappointeb  to  rcectbe  them:  3lnn 
that  fuel)  as  flball  rcceibcthem  (hall  befrap  tlje  charges  of 
rtnm,  3tab  if  anp  perfon  02  perfons  offenb  in  thepjciniffcs, 
^t  is02bercbtl)atl)eeo?tl)ep  Qiall  fuffcr^mpnfonmcntbu* 
ring  tl)e  pleaturc  oft^e  l*>ottfe,  ana  to  forfeit  tljc  goobS  fo 
bought* 

Ordered  br  the  I  ords  and  Commons  in  Parliament  allenibkd,  that  trm  Order  be 
forthwith  Printed  and  publilhed.  lohnHroxrn:.  Cler.  ParL 

London,  Printed  for  John  Wright,  and  are  to  be  fold  in  the  Old  Baily.  lt^}. 


ORDER     OF    LORDS    AND    COMMONS     CONCERNING    ARMS,     164- 

4' 

Collection  of  Miss  Toulmin  Smith. 


CHAR  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1 1 


oo 


besieged  by  Fairfax  and  by  the  Scotch  army.  The  plans  of  Pym 
were  now  rapidly  developed.  While  Manchester  marched  with  the 
army  of  the  Associated  Counties  to  join  the  forces  of  Fairfax  and 
Lord  Leven  under  the  walls  of  York,  Waller  and  Essex  gathered 
their  troops  round  Oxford.     Charles  was  thrown  on  the  defensive. 


Robert  Dxvxrtvx.  easxe  or  Tss  tx  ai9  Ixcel* 

tfc&cyvk  CeneftUl  tfy  Army, 


Sec.  VII 

The  Civil 
War 

1642 

TO 

1646 


After  IV.  Hollar. 


The  troops  from  Ireland  on  which  he  counted  had  been  cut  to 
pieces  by  Fairfax  or  by  Waller,  and  in  North  and  South  he  seemed 
utterly  overmatched.  But  he  was  far  from  despairing.  He  had 
already  answered  Newcastle's  cry  for  aid  by  despatching  Prince 
Rupert  from   Oxford  to  gather  forces  on  the  Welsh  border  ;  and 


OLIVER     CROMWELL. 
Picture  by  Walker,  at  Hinchinbrooke. 


chap,  viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1157 

the    brilliant  partizan,   after   breaking  the  sieges  of  Newark  and     Sec.  vii 
Lathom    House,   burst   over   the   Lancashire  hills   into  Yorkshire,    The  civil 
slipped  by  the  Parliamentary  army,  and  made  his  way  untouched        1642 

TO 

into  York.     But  the  success  of  this  feat  of  arms  tempted  him  to  a        1646 

fresh  act  of  daring  ;  he  resolved  on  a  decisive  battle,  and  a  dis-    Marston 

charge  of  musketrv  from  the  two  armies  as  thev  faced  each  other       :  °0> 

July  2, 

on  Marston  Moor  brought  on,  as  evening  gathered,  a  disorderly  1644 
engagement.  On  the  one  flank  a  charge  of  the  King's  horse  broke 
that  of  the  enemy  ;  on  the  other,  Cromwell's  brigade  won  as  com- 
plete a  success  over  Rupert's  troopers.  "  God  made  them  as 
stubble  to  our  swords,"  wrote  the  general  at  the  close  of  the  day  ; 
but  in  the  heat  of  victory  he  called  back  his  men  from  the  chase  to 
back  Manchester  in  his  attack  on  the  royalist  foot,  and  to  rout 
their  other  wing  of  horse  as  it  returned  breathless  from  pursuing 
the  Scots.  Nowhere  had  the  fighting  been  so  fierce.  A  young 
Puritan  who  lay  dying  on  the  field  told  Cromwell  as  he  bent  over 
him  that  one  thing  lay  on  his  spirit.  "  I  asked  him  what  it  was," 
Cromwell  wrote  afterwards.  "  He  told  me  it  was  that  God  had 
not  suffered  him  to  be  any  more  the  executioner  of  His  enemies." 
At  night-fall  all  was  over  ;  and  the  royalist  cause  in  the  north  had 
perished  at  a  blow.  Newcastle  fled  over  sea  :  York  surrendered, 
and  Rupert,  with  about  six  thousand  horse  at  his  back,  rode  south- 
ward to  Oxford.  The  blow  was  the  more  terrible  that  it  fell  on 
Charles  at  a  moment  when  his  danger  in  the  south  was  being 
changed  into  triumph  by  a  series  of  brilliant  and  unexpected  suc- 
cesses. After  a  month's  siege  the  King  had  escaped  from  Oxford 
followed  by  Essex  and  Waller  ;  had  waited  till  Essex  marched  to 
attack  Prince  Maurice  at  Lyme  ;  and  then,  turning  fiercely  on 
Waller  at  Cropredy  Bridge,  had  driven  him  back  broken  to  London, 
two  days  before  the  battle  of  Marston  Moor.  Charles  followed  up 
his  success  by  hurrying  in  the  track  of  Essex,  whom  he  hoped  to 
crush  between  his  own  force  and  that  under  Maurice.  By  a  fatal 
error,  Essex  plunged  into  Cornwall,  where  the  country  was  hostile, 
and  where  the  King  hemmed  him  in  among  the  hills,  drew  his  lines 
tightly  round  his  army,  and  forced  the  whole  body  of  the  foot  to 
surrender  at  his  mercy,  while  the  horse  cut  their  way  through  the 
besiegers,  and  Essex  himself  fled  by  sea  to  London.     The  day  of 

the    surrender    was  signalized  by  a  royalist  triumph  in   Scotland 
Vol.  Ill— 15 


BATTLE    OF 


SCALE 


MARSTON    MOOR 


StunGrdi  Geef-ZtUt  _  > 


n6o 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  vii     which  promised  to  undo  what  Marston  Moor  had  done.     The  Irish 
The  Civil    Catholics  fulfilled  their  covenant  with  Charles  by  the  landing  of 

War  j  *=» 

1642       Irish    soldiers    in  Argyle  ;  and  as  had  long  since  been  arranged, 
Montrose,  throwing  himself  into  the  Highlands,  called  the  clans  to 


TO 
I646 


arms.      Flinging   his    new    force    on    that   of  the   Covenanters   at 

Tippermuir,   he  gained   a  victory  which   enabled   him   to   occupy 

Perth,  to  sack  Aberdeen,  and  to  spread  terror  to  Edinburgh.     The 

news  fired  Charles,  as  he  came  up  from  the  west,  to  venture  on  a 

march  upon  London  ;  but  though  the  Scots  were  detained  at  New- 

Newbury   castle  the  rest  of  the  victors  at  Marston  Moor  lay  in  his  path  at 
Oct.  2  7 

Newbury  ;  and  their  force  was   strengthened  by  the  soldiers  who 

had  surrendered  in  Cornwall,  but  who  had  been  again  brought  into 


MEMORIAL    MEDAL    OF    THE    EARL    OF    ESSEX,    1 646. 
British  Museum. 


the  field.  The  charges  of  the  royalists  failed  to  break  the  Parlia- 
mentary squadrons,  and  the  soldiers  of  Essex  wiped  away  the 
shame  of  their  defeat  by  flinging  themselves  on  the  cannon  they 
had  lost,  and  bringing  them  back  in  triumph  to  their  lines.  Crom- 
well would  have  seized  the  moment  of  victory,  but  the  darkness 
hindered  his  charging  with  his  single  brigade.  Manchester,  mean- 
while, in  spite  of  the  prayers  of  his  officers,  refused  to  attack. 
Like  Essex,  he  shrank  from  a  crowning  victory  over  the  King. 
Charles  was  allowed  to  withdraw  his  army  to  Oxford,  and  even  to 
reappear  unchecked  in  the  field  of  his  defeat. 
Cromwell  The  quarrel  of  Cromwell  with  Lord  Manchester  at  Newbury 
was  destined  to  give  a  new  colour  and  direction  to  the  war.     Pym, 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND  1161 


in  fact,  had  hardly  been  borne  to  his  grave  in  Westminster  Abbey     Sec  vii 
before  England  instinctively  recognized  a  successor  of  yet  greater    The  civil 
genius  in  the  victor  of  Marston  Moor.     Born  in  the  closing  years        1642 

TO 

of  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  child  of  a  cadet  of  the  great  house  of  the  1646 
Cromwells  of  Hinchinbrook,  and  of  kin  through  their  mothers  with  1599 
Hampden  and  St.  John,  Oliver  had  been  recalled  by  his  father's 
death  from  a  short  stay  at  Cambridge  to  the  little  family  estate  at 
Huntingdon,  which  he  quitted  for  a  farm  at  St.  Ives.  We  have 
already  seen  his  mood  during  the  years  of  personal  rule,  as  he 
dwelt  in  "  prolonging"  and  "  blackness  "  amidst  fancies  of  coming 
death,  the  melancholy  which  formed  the  ground  of  his  nature 
feeding  itself  on  the  inaction  of  the  time.  But  his  energy  made 
itself  felt  the  moment  the  tyranny  was  over.  His  father  had  sat, 
with  three  of  his  uncles,  in  the  later  Parliaments  of  Elizabeth. 
Oliver  had  himself  been  returned  to  that  of  1628,  and  the  town  of 
Cambridge  sent  him  as  its  representative  to  the  Short  Parliament 
as  to  the  Long.  It  is  in  the  latter  that  a  courtier,  Sir  Philip 
Warwick,  gives  us  our  first  glimpse  of  his  actual  appearance.  "  I 
came  into  the  House  one  morning,  well  clad,  and  perceived  a 
gentleman  speaking  whom  I  knew  not,  very  ordinarily  apparelled, 
for  it  was  a  plain  cloth  suit,  which  seemed  to  have  been  made  by 
an  ill  country  tailor.  His  linen  was  plain,  and  not  very  clean  ;  and 
I  remember  a  speck  or  two  of  blood  upon  his  little  band,  which 
Avas  not  much  larger  than  his  collar.  His  hat  was  without  a  hat- 
band. His  stature  was  of  a  good  size  ;  his  sword  stuck  close  to 
his  side  ;  his  countenance  swoln  and  reddish  ;  his  voice  sharp  and 
untuneable,  and  his  eloquence  full  of  fervour."  He  was  already 
"  much  hearkened  unto,"  but  his  power  was  to  assert  itself  in  deeds 
rather  than  in  words.  Men  of  his  own  time  marked  him  out  from 
all  others  by  the  epithet  of  Ironside.      He  appeared  at  the  head  of  CromwelPs 

Brigade 

a  troop  of  his  own  raising  at  Edgehill  ;  but  with  the  eye  of  a  born 
soldier  he  at  once  saw  the  blot  in  the  army  of  Essex.  "  A  set  of 
poor  tapsters  and  town  apprentices,"  he  warned  Hampden,  "  would 
never  fight  against  men  of  honour  ; "  and  he  pointed  to  religious 
enthusiasm  as  the  one  weapon  which  could  meet  the  chivalry  of 
the  Cavalier.  Even  to  Hampden  the  plan  seemed  impracticable  ; 
but  the  regiment  of  a  thousand  men  which  Cromwell  raised  for  the 
Association  of  the  Eastern  Counties  was  formed  strictly  of  "  men 


Il62 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  VII 

The  Civil 
War 

1642 

TO 
I646 


of  religion."  He  spent  his  fortune  freely  on  the  task  he  set 
himself.  "  The  business  ....  hath  had  of  me  in  money  between 
eleven  and  twelve  hundred  pounds,  therefore  my  private  estate  can 
do  little  to  help  the  public  ....  I  have  little  money  of  my  own 
(left)  to  help  my  soldiers."  But  they  were  "  a  lovely  company,"  he 
tells  his  friends  with  soldierly  pride.  No  blasphemy,  drinking, 
disorder,  or  impiety  were  suffered   in  their  ranks.     "  Not  a  man 


FIFER.  DRUMMER. 

Wood-carving  at  Cromwell  House,  Highgate. 


swears  but  he  pays  his  twelve  pence."  Nor  was  his  choice  of 
"  men  of  religion "  the  only  innovation  Cromwell  introduced  into 
his  new  regiment.  The  social  traditions  which  restricted  com- 
mand to  men  of  birth  were  disregarded.  "  It  may  be,"  he  wrote, 
in  answer  to  complaints  from  the  committee  of  the  Association,  "  it 
provokes  your  spirit  to  see  such  plain  men  made  captains  of  horse. 
It  had  been  well  that  men  of  honour  and  birth  had  entered  into 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1163 


their  employments  ;  but  why  do  they  not  appear  ?     But  seeing  it  is     Sec.  vii 
necessary  the  work  must  go  on,  better  plain  men  than  none  :  but    THEt  Civil 
best  to  have  men  patient  of  wants,  faithful  and  conscientious  in        1642 
their  employment,   and   such,    I   hope,   these   will    approve    them- 
selves."     The  words  paint  Cromwell's  temper  accurately  enough  : 
he  is  far  more  of  the  practical  soldier  than  of  the  reformer  ;  though 
his  genius  already  breaks  in  upon  his  aristocratic  and  conservative 


TO 
I646 


TARGETEER.  OFFICER    OF     INFANTRY. 

Wood-caning  at  Cromwell  House.  Hizhzate. 


sympathies,  and  catches  glimpses  of  the  social  revolution  to  which 
the  war  was  drifting.  "  I  had  rather,"  he  once  burst  out  im- 
patiently, "  have  a  plain  russet-coated  captain,  that  knows  what  he 
fights  for  and  loves  what  he  knows,  than  what  you  call  a  gentle- 
man, and  is  nothing  else.  I  honour  a  gentleman  that  is  so 
indeed  !  "  he  ends  with  a  characteristic  return  to  his  more  common 
mood  of  feeling.      The  same  practical  temper  broke  out  in  a  more 


1164 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec  vii     startling  innovation.     Bitter  as  had  been  his  hatred  of  the  bishops, 
the  civil    and  strenuously  as   he   had  worked   to  bring  about  a   change   in 
Church    government,    Cromwell,   like   most   of  the    Parliamentary 


War 
1642 


1646       leaders,  seems  to  have  been  content  with  the  new  Presbyterianism, 
Cromwell   and  the  Presbyterians  were  more  than  content  with  him.      Lord 
Manchester   "  suffered   him   to   guide   the   army  at  his    pleasure/' 


Dissidents 


"  The  man,  Cromwell,"  writes  the  Scotchman  Baillie,  "  is  a  very 


MUSKETEER.  PIKEMAN. 

Wood-carving  at  Cromwell  House,  Highgate. 


wise  and  active  head,  universally  well  beloved  as  religious  and 
stout."  But  against  dissidents  from  the  legal  worship  of  the 
Church  the  Presbyterians  were  as  bitter  as  Laud  himself;  and,  as 
we  shall  see,  Nonconformity  was  rising  into  proportions  which 
made  its  claim  of  toleration,  of  the  freedom  of  religious  worship, 
one  of  the  problems  of  the  time.  Cromwell  met  the  problem  in 
his    unspeculative    fashion.     He    wanted    good    soldiers  and  good 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1165 


men;  and,  if  they  were   these,  the   Independent,  the  Baptist,  the     SecVH 
Leveller,    found    entry  among    his    troops.      "  You    would    respect    the  civil 
them,  did  you  see  them,"  he  answered  the  panic-stricken  Presby- 
terians who  charged  them  with  "  Anabaptistry  "  and  revolutionary 
aims  :  "  they  are  no  Anabaptists  :  they  are  honest,  sober  Christians  : 
they  expect  to  be  used  as  men."     He  was  soon  to  be  driven — as  in 


the  social  change  we  noticed  before- 


•to  a  far  larger  and  grander 


1642 

TO 

1646 


CALIVER-.MAX. 


TARGETEER    CARRYING    A    PIKE. 


Wood-carz'ing  at  Cromwell  House,  Highgate. 


point  of  view.  But  as  yet  he  was  busier  with  his  new  regiment 
than  with  theories  of  Church  and  State  ;  and  his  horsemen  were  no 
sooner  in  action  than  they  proved  themselves  such  soldiers  as  the 
war  had  never  seen  yet.  "  Truly  they  were  never  beaten  at  all," 
their  leader  said  proudly  at  its  close.  At  Winceby  fight  they 
charged  "  singing  psalms,"  cleared  Lincolnshire  of  the  Cavaliers, 
and  freed  the  eastern  counties   from  all  danger  from  Newcastle's 


i66 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE      chap,  viii 


partizans.  At  Marston  Moor  they  faced  and  routed  Rupert's 
chivalry.  At  Newbury  it  was  only  Manchester's  reluctance  that 
hindered  them  from  completing  the  ruin  of  Charles. 

Cromwell    had    shown    his    capacity    for    organization    in    the 

The  New   creation  of  his  regiment  ;  his  military  genius  had  displayed  itself 

at  Marston  Moor.     Newbury  first  raised  him  into  a  political  leader. 

"  Without  a  more  speedy,  vigorous,  and   effective  prosecution  of 


Sec.  VII 

The  Civil 
War 

1642 

TO 
I646 


/tWf. 


MUSKETEER. 
Wood-carving  at  Cromwell  House,  Higligate. 


the  war,"  he  said  to  the  Commons  after  his  quarrel  with  Manches- 
ter, "  casting  off  all  lingering  proceedings,  like  those  of  soldiers  of 
fortune  beyond  sea  to  spin  out  a  war,  we  shall  make  the  kingdom 
weary  of  us,  and  hate  the  name  of  a  Parliament."  But  under  the 
leaders  who  at  present  conducted  it  a  vigorous  conduct  of  the  war 
was  hopeless.  They  were,  in  Cromwell's  plain  words,  "  afraid  to 
conquer."     They  desired  not  to  crush  Charles,   but  to   force   him 


WOOD-CARVIXG    OX    STAIRCASE 


'    CROMWELL    HOUSE,    HIGHGATE. 


a ) ices 


1168  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH.    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  vii     back,  with  as  much  of  his  old  strength  remaining  as  might  be,  to 

the  Civil    the    position    of  a    constitutional    King.      The    old    loyalty,    too, 

1642       clogged  their  enterprise  ;  they  shrank   from  the  taint  of  treason. 

TO 

1646  "If  the  King  be  beaten,"  Manchester  urged  at  Newbury,  "he  will 
still  be  king  ;  if  he  beat  us  he  will  hang  us  all  for  traitors."  To  a 
mood  like  this  Cromwell's  attitude  seemed  horrible :  "  If  I  met  the 
King  in  battle,"  he  answered,  according  to  a  later  story,  "  I  would 
fire  my  pistol  at  the  King  as  at  another."  The  army,  too,  as  he 
long  ago  urged  at  Edgehill,  was  not  an  army  to  conquer  with. 
Now,  as  then,  he  urged  that  till  the  whole  force  was  new  modelled, 
and  placed  under  a  stricter  discipline,  "  they  must  not  expect  any 
notable  success  in  anything  they  went  about."  But  the  first  step 
in  such  a  re-organization  must  be  a  change  of  officers.  The  army 
The  Self-    was  led  and  officered  by  members  of  the  two  Houses,  and  the  Self- 

denying       .  .  _     , .  .  .  , 

Ordin-  denying  Ordinance,  as  it  was  introduced  by  Cromwell  and  Vane, 
declared  the  tenure  of  military  or  civil  offices  incompatible  with  a 
seat  in  either.  The  long  and  bitter  resistance  which  this  measure 
met  before  it  was  finally  passed  in  a  modified  form  was  justified  at 
a  later  time  by  the  political  results  which  followed  the  rupture  of 
the  tie  which  had  hitherto  bound  the  army  to  the  Parliament.  But 
the  drift  of  public  opinion  was  too  strong  to  be  withstood. 
The  passage  of  the  Ordinance  brought  about  the  retirement  of 
Essex,  Manchester,  and  Waller  ;  and  the  new  organization  of  the 
army  went  rapidly  on  under  a  new  commander-in-chief,  Sir 
Thomas  Fairfax,  the  hero  of  the  long  contest  in  Yorkshire,  and 
who  had  been  raised  into  fame  by  his  victory  at  Nantwich,  and  his 
bravery  at  Marston  Moor.  But  behind  Fairfax  stood  Cromwell  ; 
and  the  principles  on  which  Cromwell  had  formed  his  brigade  were 
carried  out  on  a  larger  scale  in  the  "  New  Model."  The  one  aim 
was  to  get  together  twenty  thousand  "  honest "  men.  "  Be 
careful,"  Cromwell  had  written,  "what  captains  of  horse  you 
choose,  what  men  be  mounted.  A  few  honest  men  are  better  than 
numbers.  If  you  choose  godly  honest  men  to  be  captains  of  horse, 
honest  men  will  follow  them."  The  result  was  a  curious  medley  of 
men  of  different  ranks  among  the  officers  of  the  New  Model.  The 
bulk  of  those  in  high  command  remained  men  of  noble  or  gentle 
blood,  Montagues,  Pickerings,  Fortescues,  Sheffields,  Sidneys,  and 
the  like.     But  side  by  side  with  these,  though  in  far  smaller  pro- 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1169 


portion,  were  seen  officers  like  Ewer,  who  had  been  a  serving-man      Sec.  vii 
like  Okey,  who  had  been  a  drayman,   or  Rainsborou^h    who  had    T**  cwn. 
been  a  "skipper  at  sea."     A  result  hardly   less   notable  was   the       1642 

TO 
I646 


SIR     THOMAS     FAIRFAX. 
From  an  engraving  by  H.  Hondius. 


youth  of  the  officers.  Among  those  in  high  command  there  were 
few  who,  like  Cromwell,  had  passed  middle  age.  Fairfax  was  but 
thirty-three,  and  most  of  his  colonels  were  even  younger.     Equally 


1170 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP 


Sec.  VII 

The  Civil 
War 

1642 

TO 

1 646 


Xaseby 


strange  was  the  mixture  of  religions  in  its  ranks  ;  though  a  large 
proportion  of  the  infantry  wras  composed  of  pressed  recruits,  the 
cavalry  was  for  the  most  part  strongly  Puritan,  and  in  that  part 
of  the  army  especially  dissidence  of  every  type  had  gained  a  firm 
foothold. 

Of  the  political  and  religious  aspect  of  the  New  Model  we  shall 
have  to  speak  at  a  later  time  ;  as  yet  its  energy  was  directed  solely 
to  "  the  speedy  and  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war."     Fairfax  was 


THE    TREATY-HOUSE,    UXBRIDGE. 
Drawing  in  Sutherland  Collection,  Bodleian  Library. 


no  sooner  ready  for  action  than  the  policy  of  Cromwell  was  aided 
by  the  policy  of  the  King.  From  the  hour  when  Newbury  marked 
the  breach  between  the  peace  and  war  parties  in  the  Parliament, 
the  Scotch  Commissioners  and  the  bulk  of  the  Commons  had 
seen  that  their  one  chance  of  hindering  what  they  looked  on  as 
revolution  in  Church  and  State  lay  in  pressing  for  fresh  negotia- 
tions with  Charles.  Commissioners  met  at  Uxbridge  to  draw  up  a 
treaty  ;  but  the  hopes  of  concession  which  Charles  held  out  were 
suddenly   withdrawn  in  the  spring.     He  saw,  as  he  thought,  the 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1171 


Parliamentary  army  dissolved  and  ruined  by  its  new  modelling,  at 
an  instant  when  news  came  from  Scotland  of  fresh  successes  on  the 
part  of  Montrose,  and  of  his  overthrow  of  the  Marquis  of  Argyle's 
troops  in  the  victory  of  Inverlochy.  "  Before  the  end  of  the 
summer,"  wrote  the  conqueror,  "  I  shall  be  in  a  position  to  come  to 
your  Majesty's  aid  with  a  brave  army."  The  party  of  war  gained 
the  ascendant  ;  and  in  May  the  King  opened  his  campaign  by  a 
march    to    the    north.     Leicester   was    stormed,    the    blockade    of 


Sec.  VII 

The  Civil 
War 

1642 

TO 
I646 


BRIDGE    OVER    THE    DEE    AND    BRIDGE    GATES,    CHESTER. 

Sketch  made  by  Randle  Holme  just  before  the  siege. 

J  AS".   Harl.  2073. 


Chester  raised,  and  the  eastern  counties  threatened  until  Fairfax, 
who  had  been  unwillingly  engaged  in  a  siege  of  Oxford,  hurried  at 
last  on  his  track.  Cromwell,  who  had  been  suffered  by  the  House 
to  retain  his  command  for  a  few  days  in  spite  of  the  Ordinance, 
joined  Fairfax  as  he  drew  near  the  King,  and  his  arrival  was  greeted 
by  loud  shouts  of  welcome  from  the  troops.  The  two  armies 
met  near  Naseby,  to  the  north-west  of  Northampton.  The  King 
was  eager  to  fight.  "  Never  have  my  affairs  been  in  as  good  a  state," 
he  cried  ;  and  Prince  Rupert  was  as  impatient  as  his  uncle.      On 


June  14, 
1645 


BATTLE     OF    NASEBY. 


Stanford-i  acegraphual  Establijkrmr 


chap,  viir  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1173 


the  other  side,  even  Cromwell  doubted  as  a  soldier  the  success  of     Sec.  vii 
the  newly-drilled  troops,  though  religious  enthusiasm  swept  away    the  Civil 
doubt  in  the  assurance  of  victory.     "  I  can  say  this  of  Naseby,"  he        1642 

TO 

wrote  soon  after,  "  that  when  I  saw  the  enemy  draw  up  and  march        1646 

in  gallant  order  towards  us,  and  we  a  company  of  poor  ignorant 

men,  to  seek  to  order  our  battle,  the  general  having  commanded 

me  to  order   all  the  horse,    I   could   not,   riding  alone  about  my 

business,  but  smile   out  to  God  in  praises,  in  assurance  of  victory, 

because  God  would  by  things  that  are  not  bring  to  nought  things 

that  are.     Of  which  I   had  great  assurance,  and  God  did  it."     The 

battle  began  with  a  furious  charge  of  Rupert  uphill,  which  routed 

the    wing  opposed  to  him  under  Ireton  ;  while  the  royalist  foot, 

after   a    single    discharge,   clubbed  their  muskets  and  fell  on  the 

centre  under  Fairfax  so  hotly  that  it  slowly  and  stubbornly  gave 

way.      But    Cromwell's  brigade  were  conquerors  on  the  left.      A 

single  charge  broke  the  northern  horse  under  Langdale,  who  had 

already  fled  before  them  at  Marston  Moor  ;  and  holding  his  troops 

firmly  in  hand,  Cromwell  fell  with  them  on  the  flank  of  the  royalist 

foot  in  the  very  crisis  of  its  success.     A  panic  of  the  King's  reserve, 

and  its  flight  from  the  field,  aided  his  efforts  :  it  was  in  vain  that 

Rupert  returned  with  forces  exhausted  by  pursuit,  that  Charles,  in 

a  passion  of  despair,  called  on  his  troopers  for  "  one  charge  more." 

The  battle  was  over :  artillery,  baggage,  even  the  royal  papers,  fell 

into  the  conqueror's  hands  ;  five  thousand  men  surrendered  ;  only 

two  thousand  followed  the  King  in  his  headlong  flight  from  the 

field.     The    war  was  ended  at  a  blow.     While  Charles  wandered     Close  of 

helplessly  along  the  Welsh  border  in  search  of  fresh  forces,  Fairfax 

marched  rapidly  into  Somersetshire,  and  routed  the  royal  forces  at 

Langport.      A    victory    at    Kilsyth,  which    gave  Scotland  for  the 

moment  to  Montrose,  threw  a  transient  gleam  over  the  darkening 

fortunes  of  his  master's  cause  ;  but  the  surrender  of  Bristol  to  the 

Parliamentary  army,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  last  force  Charles 

could  collect  in  an  attempt  to  relieve  Chester,  was  followed  by  news 

of  the  crushing  and  irretrievable  defeat  of  the  "  Great  Marquis  "  at  Sept.  1645 

Philiphaugh.     In  the  wreck  of  the  royal  cause  we  may  pause  for  a 

moment  over  an  incident  which  brings  out  in  relief  the  best  temper 

of  both  sides.     Cromwell  "  spent  much  time  with  God  in  prayer 

before  the  storm  "  of  Basing  House,  where  the  Marquis  of  Win- 
Vol.  Ill— 16 


H74 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  vii     Chester  had  held  stoutly  out  through  the  war  for  the  King.     The 
The  Civil    storm  ended  its  resistance,  and  the  brave  old  royalist  was  brought 

War  '  ° 


1642 

TO 
I646 


in  a  prisoner  with  his  house  flaming  around  him.    He  "  broke  out,  '* 


JOHN     PAULET,    FIFTH     MARQUIS    OF    WINCHESTER. 
From  an  engraving  by  R.   Cooper  after  Peter  Oliver. 


reports  a  Puritan  bystander,  "  and  said,  '  that  if  the  King  had  no 
more  ground  in  England  but  Basing  House  he  would  adventure  it 
as  he  did,  and  so  maintain  it  to  the  uttermost,'  comforting  himself 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


ii75 


in  this  matter  '  that  Basing  House  was  called  Loyalty.'"  Of  loyalty 
such  as  this  Charles  was  utterly  unworthy.  The  seizure  of  his 
papers  at  Naseby  had  hardly  disclosed  his  earlier  intrigues  with  the 
Irish  Catholics  when  the  Parliament  was  able  to  reveal  to  England 
a  fresh  treaty  with  them,  which  purchased  no  longer  their  neutrality, 
but  their  aid,  by  the  simple  concession  of  every  demand  they  had 
made.  The  shame  was  without  profit,  for  whatever  aid  Ireland 
might  have  given  came  too  late  to  be  of  service.  The  spring  of 
1646  saw  the  few  troops  who  still  clung  to  Charles  surrounded  and 
routed  at  Stow.  "You  have  done  your  work  now,"  their  leader, 
Sir  Jacob  Astley,  said  bitterly  to  his  conquerors,  "  and  may  go  to 
play,  unless  you  fall  out  among  yourselves." 


Sec.  VII 

The  Civil 
War 

1642 

TO 
I646 


SMALL    BRASS   CANNON,    GIVEN   BY  THE  ARMOURERS'   COMPANY  OF  LONDON 

TO  CHARLES   I.    FOR   HIS   SON. 

Tower  of  London. 


n76  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  VIII 
The  Army 

AND   THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 
1649 


Section  VIII. — The  Army  and  the  Parliament,  1646 — 1649 

[Authorities. — Mainly  as  before,  though  Clarendon,  invaluable  during  the 
war,  is  tedious  and  unimportant  here,  and  Cromwell's  letters  become,  unfortu- 
nately, few  at  the  moment  when  we  most  need  their  aid.  On  the  other  hand 
Ludlow  and  Whitelock,  as  well  as  the  passionate  and  unscrupulous  "  Memoirs" 
of  Holies  and  Major  Hutchinson,  become  of  much  importance.  For  Charles 
himself,  we  have  Sir  Thomas  Herbert's  "Memoirs"  of  the  last  two  years  of 
this  reign.  Burnet's  "  Lives  of  the  Hamiltons  "  throw  a  good  deal  of  light 
on  Scotch  affairs  at  this  time,  and  Sir  James  Turner's  "  Memoir  of  the  Scotch 
Invasion."  The  early  history  of  the  Independents,  and  of  the  principle  of 
religious  freedom,  is  told  by  Mr.  Masson  ("  Life  of  Milton,"  vol.  Hi.).] 

With  the  close  of  the  Civil  War  we  enter  on  a  time  of  confused 
struggles,  a  time  tedious  and  uninteresting  in  its  outer  details,  but 
of  higher  interest  than  even  the  war  itself  in  its  bearing  on  our 
after  history.  Modern  England,  the  England  among  whose 
thoughts  and  sentiments  we  actually  live,  began  however  dimly 
with  the  triumph  of  Naseby.  Old  things  passed  silently  away. 
When  Astley  gave  up  his  sword  the  "  work  "  of  the  generations 
which  had  struggled  for  Protestantism  against  Catholicism,  for 
public  liberty  against  absolute  rule,  in  his  own  emphatic  phrase, 
was  "  done."  So  far  as  these  contests  were  concerned,  however  the 
later  Stuarts  might  strive  to  revive  them,  England  could  safely  "go 
to  play."  But  with  the  end  of  this  older  work  a  new  work  began. 
The  constitutional  and  ecclesiastical  problems  which  still  in  one 
shape  or  another  beset  us  started  to  the  front  as  subjects  of 
national  debate  in  the  years  between  the  close  of  the  Civil  War 
and  the  death  of  the  King.  The  great  parties  which  have  ever 
since  divided  the  social,  the  political,  and  the  religious  life  of 
England,  whether  as  Independents  and  Presbyterians,  as  Whigs 
and  Tories,  as  Conservatives  and  Liberals,  sprang  into  organized 
existence  in  the  contest  between  the  Army  and  the  Parliament. 
Then  for  the  first  time  began  a  struggle  which  is  far  from  having 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1177 


ended  yet,  a  struggle  between  political  tradition  and  political  Sec.  viii 
progress,  between  the  principle  of  religious  conformity  and  the  T"E  army 
principle  of  religious  freedom. 

It  was  the  religious  struggle  which  drew  the  political  in  its 
train.  We  have  already  witnessed  the  rise  under  Elizabeth  of  sects 
who  did  not  aim,  like  the  Presbyterians,  at  a  change  in  Church 
government,  but  rejected  the  notion  of  a  national  Church  at  all, 


Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 

1649 


The 
Indepen- 
dents 


"TWO     UPSTART     PROPHETS":     SECTARIAN     PREACHERS     AND    WEAVERS. 

Tract,  1636. 


and  insisted  on  the  right  of  each  congregation  to  perfect  independ- 
ence of  faith  and  worship.  At  the  close  of  the  Queen's  reign,  how- 
ever, these  "  Brownists  "  had  almost  entirely  disappeared.  Some  of 
the  dissidents,  as  in  the  notable  instance  of  the  congregation  that 
produced  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  had  found  a  refuge  in  Holland  ;  but 
the  bulk  had  been  driven  by  persecution  to  a  fresh  conformity 
with  the  Established  Church.  "  As  for  those  which  we  call 
Brownists,"  says  Bacon,  "  being  when  they  were  at  the  best  a  very 
small    number    of  very  silly  and  base  people,  here   and  there  in 


1178 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


MENT 

I646 

TO 
1649 


Sec.  viii    corners    dispersed,    they    are    now,    thanks    to    God,  by  the   good 
th^Trmy    remedies  that  have  been  used,  suppressed  and  worn  out  so  that 

AND   THE  „  .  .    -    ,  , 

there  is  scarce  any  news  of  them.  As  soon,  however,  as  Abbots 
primacy  promised  a  milder  rule,  the  Separatist  refugees  began  to 
venture   timidly   back   again  to  England.      During  their  exile  in 

Holland  the  main  body  had  con- 
tented themselves  with  the  free 
developement  of  their  system 
of  independent  congregations, 
each  forming  in  itself  a  com- 
plete Church,  and  to  them  the 
name  of  Independents  attached 
itself  at  a  later  time.  A  small 
part,  however,  had  drifted  into 
a  more  marked  severance  in 
doctrine  from  the  Established 
Church,  especially  in  their 
belief  of  the  necessity  of  adult 
baptism,  a  belief  from  which 
their  obscure  congregation  at 
Leyden  became  known  as  that 
of  the  Baptists.  Both  of  these 
sects  gathered  a  church  in 
London  in  the  middle  of 
James's  reign,  but  the  perse- 
cuting zeal  of  Laud  prevented 
any  spread  of  their  opinions 
under  that  of  his  successor  ; 
and  it  was  not  till  their  num- 
bers were  suddenly  increased 
by  the  return  of  a  host  of  emi- 
grants from  New  England,  with 
Hugh  Peters  at  their  head,  on 
the  opening  of  the  Long  Parliament,  that  the  Congregational  or 
Independent  body  began  to  attract  attention.  Lilburne  and  Burton 
soon  declared  themselves  adherents  of  what  was  called  "  the  New 
England  way  ;  "  and  a  year  later  saw  in  London  alone  the  rise  of 
"  four    score    congregations    of  several  sectaries,"  as  Bishop   Hall 


1640 


JOHN     LILBUKNfc. 
Print,   1649,  in  British  Museum. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1179 


scornfully  tells  us,  "  instructed  by  guides  fit  for  them,  cobblers, 
tailors,  felt-makers,  and  such-like  trash."  But  little  religious 
weight  however  could  be  attributed  as  vet  to  the  Concrreo-ational 
movement.     Baxter  at  this  time  had  not  heard  of  the  existence  of 


Sec.  VIII 
The  Army 

AND    THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 
I649 


aConfeflit 


a  SmitH 


a  sho'-mafczr 


a  'Tayfor 


THESE    TRADESMEN     ARE    PREACHERS     IN     THE    CUV    OF     LONDON,     1647 
Broadside  in  British  Museum. 


any  Independents.  Milton  in  his  earlier  pamphlets  shows  no  sign 
of  their  influence.  Of  the  hundred  and  five  ministers  present  in  the 
Westminster  Assembly  only  five  were  Congregational  in  sympathy, 
and  these  were  all  returned  refugees  from  Holland.     Among  the 


n8o  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  viii    one  hundred  and  twenty  London  ministers  in  1643,  only  three  were 
The  Army    suspected  of  leanings  towards  the  Sectaries. 

AND  THE  L  ° 

Parlia-  jhg  struggle  with  Charles  in  fact  at  its  outset  only  threw  new 

MENT  OO  J 

1646       difficulties  in  the  way  of  religious  freedom.     It  was  with  strictly 

TO 

1649       conservative  aims  in  ecclesiastical  as  in  political  matters  that  Pym 
Presby-    and    his  colleagues  began  the  strife.     Their  avowed  purpose  was 

t  cricin 

England  simply    to    restore    the    Church    of   England    to    its    state    undcr 
Elizabeth,  and    to    free    it  from  "  innovations,"  from  the  changes 
introduced  by  Laud  and  his  fellow  prelates.     The  great  majority 
of  the  Parliament  were  averse  to  any  alterations  in  the  constitution 
or  doctrine  of  the  Church  itself ;  and  it  was  only  the  refusal  of  the 
bishops  to  accept  any  diminution  of  their  power  and  revenues,  the 
growth  of  a  party  hostile  to  Episcopalian  government,  the  necessity 
for  purchasing  the  aid  of  the  Scots  by  a  union  in  religion  as  in 
politics,  and  above  all  the  urgent  need  of  constructing  some  new 
ecclesiastical    organization  in  the  place  of  the  older  organization 
which   had    become  impossible  from  the  political  attitude  of  the 
bishops,   that    forced    on    the    two    Houses    the    adoption    of   the 
Covenant.     But   the  change  to  a  Presbyterian  system  of  Church 
government    seemed  at  that  time  of  little  import  to  the  bulk  of 
Englishmen.     The  dogma  of  the  necessity  of  bishops  was  held  by 
few,  and  the  change  was  generally  regarded  with  approval  as  one 
which  brought  the  Church  of  England  nearer  to  that  of  Scotland 
and  to  the  reformed  Churches  of  the  Continent.      But  whatever 
might  be  the  change  in  its  administration,  no  one  imagined  that  it 
had    ceased  to  be  the  Church  of  England,  or  that  it  had  parted 
with  its  right  to  exact  conformity  to  its  worship  from  the  nation  at 
large.     The  Tudor  theory  of  its  relation  to  the  State,  of  its  right  to 
embrace  all  Englishmen  within  its  pale,  and  to  dictate  what  should 
be  their  faith  and  form  of  worship,  remained  utterly  unquestioned 
by   any  man   of  note.     The   sentiments   on   which  such  a  theory 
rested  indeed  for  its  main  support,  the  power  of  historical  tradition, 
the    association    of  "  dissidence "    with    danger    to    the    State,   the 
strong  English  instinct  of  order,  the  as  strong  English  dislike  of 
"  innovations,"  with  the  abhorrence  of  "  indifferency,"  as  a  sign  of 
lukewarmness  in  matters  of  religion,  had  only  been  intensified  by 
the  earlier  incidents  of  the  struggle  with  the  King.     The  Parlia- 
ment   therefore    had     steadily    pressed    on    the    new    system    of 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1181 


ecclesiastical  government  in  the  midst  of  the  troubles  of  the  war. 
An  Assembly  of  Divines  which  was  called  together  at  Westminster 
in  1643,  and  which  sat  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  during  the  five 
years  which  followed,  was  directed  to  revise  the  Articles,  to  draw 
up  a  Confession  of  Faith,  and  a  Directory  of  Public  Worship  ;  and 
these  with  a  scheme  of  Church  government,  a  scheme  only  dis- 
tinguished from  that  of  Scotland  by  the  significant  addition  of  a 
lay    court    of  superior  appeal   set  by   Parliament   over  the  whole 


Sec.  VIII 

The  Army 
and  THE 
Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 
I649 

Westmin- 
ster 
Assembly 
I 643- I 648 


CHURCH     AND     CONVENTICLE. 
Tract,   "A  Glasse  for  the  Times,"  1648. 


system   of  Church   courts   and   assemblies,  were  accepted   by   the 

Houses  and  embodied  in  a  series  of  Ordinances. 

Had  the  change  been  made  at  the  moment  when  "with  uplifted  Freedom 

hands"   the  Commons  swore   to   the   Covenant   in  St.   Margaret's     of  Con" 

o  science 

it  would  probably  have  been  accepted  by  the  country  at  large. 
But  it  met  with  a  very  different  welcome  when  it  came  at  the  end 
of  the  war.  In  spite  of  repeated  votes  of  Parliament  for  its 
establishment,    the   pure    Presbyterian   system   took   root   only    in 


n82  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

sec.  viii     London     and     Lancashire.      While     the     Divines,     indeed,     were 
the  army    drawing  up   their  platform  of  uniform  belief  and  worship  in  the 

AND    THE 

Parlia-      Jerusalem  Chamber,  dissidence  had  grown   into  a  religious  power. 

MENT  J  O  o  x 

1646        In  the  terrible  agony  of  the  struggle  against  Charles,   individual 

TO  . 

1649  conviction  became  a  stronger  force  than  religious  tradition. 
Theological  speculation  took  an  unprecedented  boldness  from  the 
temper  of  the  times.  Four  years  after  the  war  had  begun  a 
horror-stricken  pamphleteer  numbered  sixteen  religious  sects  as 
existing  in  defiance  of  the  law ;  and,  widely  as  these  bodies 
differed  among  themselves,  all  were  at  one  in  repudiating  any 
right  of  control  in  faith  or  worship  by  the  Church  or  its  clergy. 
Milton  himself  had  left  his  Presbyterian  stand-point,  and  saw  that 
"  new  Presbyter  is  but  old  Priest  writ  large."  The  question  of 
sectarianism  soon  grew  into  a  practical  one  from  its  bearing  on  the 
war  ;  for  the  class  specially  infected  with  the  new  spirit  of  religious 
freedom  was  just  the  class  to  whose  zeal  and  vigour  the  Parliament 
was  forced  to  look  for  success  in  its  struggle.  We  have  seen  the 
prevalence  of  this  spirit  among  the  farmers  from  whom  Cromwell 
drew  his  horsemen,  and  his  enlistment  of  these  "  sectaries  "  was 
the  first  direct  breach  in  the  old  system  of  conformity.  The 
Cromwell  sentiments  of  the  farmers  indeed  were  not  his  own.  Cromwell  had 
.  ,ancl.      signed  the  Covenant,  and  there  is  no  reason  for  crediting  him  with 

toleration        &  ° 

any  aversion  to  Presbyterianism  as  a  system  of  doctrine  or  of 
Church  organization.  His  first  step  was  a  purely  practical  one,  a 
step  dictated  by  military  necessities,  and  excused  in  his  mind  by  a 
sympathy  with  "  honest  "  men,  as  well  as  by  the  growing  but  still 
vague  notion  of  a  communion  among  Christians  wider  than  that 
of  outer  conformity  in  worship  or  belief.  But  the  alarm  and 
remonstrances  of  the  Presbyterians  forced  his  mind  rapidly 
forward  on  the  path  of  toleration.  "  The  State  in  choosing  men  to 
serve  it,"  Cromwell  wrote  before  Marston  Moor,  "  takes  no  notice 
of  these  opinions.  If  they  be  willing  faithfully  to  serve  it,  that 
satisfies."  Marston  Moor  spurred  him  to  press  on  the  Parliament 
the  need  of  at  least  "tolerating"  dissidents  ;  and  he  succeeded  in 
procuring  the  appointment  of  a  Committee  of  the  Commons  to 
find  some  means  of  effecting  this.  But  the  conservative  temper  of 
the  bulk  of  the  Puritans  was  at  last  roused  by  his  efforts.  "  We 
detest  and  abhor,"  wrote  the  London  clergy  in   1645,  "the  much 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1183 


endeavoured     Toleration  ; "     and     the     Corporation     of    London 
petitioned   Parliament  to  suppress  all  sects  "  without   toleration." 
The   Parliament   itself  too   remained   steady   on   the   conservative 
side.      But    the    fortunes    of  the   war   told    for    religious    freedom. 
Essex  and  his  Pres- 
byterians     only 
marched  from  defeat 
to     defeat.       In     re- 
modelling  the   army 
the     Commons    had 
rejected    a     demand 
made    by  the   Lords 
that       officers       and 
men,   besides    taking 
the  Covenant,  should 
submit  "  to  the  form 
of     Church    govern- 
ment   that    was    al- 
ready voted  by  both 
Houses."     The    vic- 
tory    of    Naseby 
raised  a  wider  ques- 
tion    than     that     of 
mere    toleration. 
u  Honest  men  served 
you  faithfully  in  this 
action,"  Cromwell 
wrote  to  the  Speaker 
of     the     House     of 
Commons    from    the 
field.     "  Sir,  they  are 
trusty  :       I     beseech 
you   in  the   name  of 
God  not  to  discour- 
age   them.       He    that   ventures    his    life    for    the    liberty    of    his 
country,  I   wish  he   trust  God   for   the  liberty  of  his   conscience." 
The    storm    of    Bristol     encouraged    him    to    proclaim    the    new 
principles  yet    more  distinctly.     "  Presbyterians,  Independents,  all 


m^Tke  fonlh pro fpecto/ part  pj 
-  1    ofJjhe  Co/th  of  Bnftoll  S    f  ] 


BRISTOL    CASTLE. 

Millard's  Map  of  Bristol,   1763 ;  from  a  drawing, 
1642 — 1656. 


Sec.  VIII 
The  Armv 

AND    THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 
I649 


1184 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec-  vm    here  have  the  same  spirit  of  faith   and  prayer,  the  same  presence 

^ITdtST    and    answer-     They    agree   here,   have    no    names    of   difference; 

Pment"     Plty   it:    is    it   should    be  otherwise   anywhere.      All   that    believe 


1646 

TO 
I649 


a  flocuy  cCe/enhng 
'Erotner 


A    PIOUS    AND    SEASONABLE    PERSWASIVE    TO    THE    SONNES    OF    ZION. 
Broadside,   1647,  2a  British  Museum. 


have  the  real  unity,  which  is  the  most  glorious,  being  the  inward 
and  spiritual,  in  the  body  and  in  the  head.  For  being  united 
in  forms  (commonly  called  uniformity),  every  Christian  will  for 
peace'  sake  study  and  do  as  far  as  conscience  will  permit.     And 


vni  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1185 

from  brethren  in  things  of  the  mind  we  look  for  no   compulsion     Sec.  vni 
but  that  of  light  and   reason."  The  army 

0  AND   THE 

The  increasing"  firmness  of  Cromwell's  language  was  due  to  the      Parl1a- 

O  OO  MENT 

growing  irritation  of  his  opponents.     The  two  parties  became  every        1646 

TO 

day  more  clearly  denned.     The  Presbyterian  ministers  complained        1649 
bitterly  of  the  increase  of  the  sectaries,  and  denounced  the  tolera-     Charles 
tion  which  had  come  into  practical  existence  without  sanction  from     presby. 
the   law.     Scotland,  whose  army  was  still  before  Newark,  pressed     tenans 
for  the  execution  of  the  Covenant  and  the  universal  enforcement  of 
a  religious  uniformity.     Sir  Harry  Vane,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
striving  to  bring  the  Parliament  round  to  less  rigid  courses  by  the 
introduction  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  new  members,  who  filled 
the    seats    left     vacant    by     royalist     secessions,    and    the    more 
eminent  of  whom,  such  as  Ireton   and  Algernon    Sydney,  were  in- 
clined to  support  the  Independents.     But  it  was  only  the  pressure 
of  the  New   Model,  and  the    remonstrances  of   Cromwell   as   its 
mouthpiece,  which  hindered  any  effective  movement  towards  per- 
secution.     Amidst   the    wreck    of  his  fortunes  Charles  intrigued 
busily  with  both  parties,  and  promised  liberty  of  worship  to  Vane 
and  the   Independents,  at   the  moment  when  he   was  negotiating 
with    the    Parliament    and    the    Scots.     His    negotiations    were 
quickened   by  the   march  of  Fairfax   upon   Oxford.     Driven  from   Charles  in 
his  last  refuge,  the  King  after  some  aimless  wanderings  made  his  '   Ca?np 
appearance  in   the   camp  of  the  Scots.     Lord   Leven  at  once   fell   May  l64^ 
back  with  his  royal  prize  to  Newcastle.     The  new  aspect  of  affairs 
threatened  the   party  of  religious   freedom  with  ruin.      Hated    as 
they  were  by  the  Scots,  by  the  Lords,  by  the  City  of  London,  the 
apparent  junction   of  Charles  with  their  enemies  destroyed   their 
growing  hopes  in  the  Commons,  where  the   prospects  of  a  speedy 
peace  on  Presbyterian  terms  at  once  swelled  the  majority  of  their 
opponents.     The  two  Houses  laid  their  conditions  of  peace  before 
the  King  without  a  dream  of  resistance  from  one  who  seemed  to 
have  placed  himself  at  their  mercy.     They  required  for  the  Parlia- 
ment the  command  of  the  army  and  fleet  for  twenty  years  ;  the 
exclusion  of  all  "  Malignants,"  or  royalists  who  had  taken  part  in 
the  war,  from  civil  and  military  office  ;  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy  ; 
and  the  establishment  of  a  Presbyterian  Church.     Of  toleration  or 
liberty  of  conscience  they  said  not  a  word.     The  Scots  pressed 


n86 


HISTORY    OF   THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  viii    these  terms  on  the  King  "  with  tears  ; "  his  friends,  and  even  the 
The  army    Queen,    urged    their    acceptance.      But    the    aim   of   Charles   was 

AND   THE  **  °  X 

Parlia-  simply  delay.  Time  and  the  dissensions  of  his  enemies,  as  he  be- 
lieved,  were  fighting  for  him.  "  I  am  not  without  hope,"  he  wrote 
coolly,  "  that  I  shall  be  able  to  draw  either  the  Presbyterians  or  the 
Independents  to  side  with  me  for  extirpating  one  another,  so  that 


MENT 

I646 

TO 
J649 


DENZIL    HOLLES. 
Frontispiece  (engraved  by  R.  White)  to  his  Memoirs,  1699. 


I  shall  be  really  King  again."  His  refusal  of  the  terms  offered  by 
the  Houses  was  a  crushing  defeat  for  the  Presbyterians.  "  What 
will  become  of  us,"  asked  one  of  them,  "  now  that  the  King  has 
rejected  our  proposals  ? "  "  What  would  have  become  of  us,"  re- 
torted an  Independent,  "had  he  accepted  them  ? "  The  vigour  of 
Holies  and  the  Conservative  leaders  in  the  Parliament  rallied  how- 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1187 


ever   to  a  bolder  effort.     The   King's   game   lay  in   balancing   the     Sec.  viii 
army  against  the   Parliament  ;  and   while  the   Scotch  army  lav  at    The  Arm^ 

J  °  '  J  J  AND    THE 

Newcastle  the  Houses  could  not  insist  on  dismissing  their  own. 
It  was  only  a  withdrawal  of  the  Scots  from  England  and  their 
transfer  of  the  King's  person  into  the  hands  of  the  Houses  that 
would  enable  them  to  free  themselves  from  the  pressure  of  their 
own  soldiers  by  disbanding  the  New  Model.     Hopeless  of  success 


Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 
I649 


Anderson's   place. 

House  in  which  Charles  I.  lodged  at  Newcastle. 


with  the   King,  and   unable  to  bring   him   into  Scotland   in  face  of   Surrender 
the  refusal  of  the  General  Assembly   to  receive  a   sovereign   who       King 
would   not   swear    to   the  Covenant,    the    Scottish  army  accepted  /«"•  ^47 
^"400,000  in  discharge  of  its  claims,  handed  Charles  over  to  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Houses,  and  marched  back  over  the  Border.    Masters 
of  the  King,  the   Presbyterian  leaders   at    once  moved   boldly   to 
their  attack   on  the  New   Model  and  the   Sectaries.     They  voted 


n88 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


AND    THE 

Parlia 

MENT 

I646 

TO 
I649 


Sec.  viii  that  the  army  should  be  disbanded,  and  that  a  new  army  should 
The  army  be  raised  for  the  suppression  of  the  Irish  rebellion  with  Presby- 
terian  officers  at  its  head.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  men  protested 
against  being  severed  from  "  officers  that  we  love,"  and  that  the 
Council  of  Officers  strove  to  gain  time  by  pressing  on  the  Parlia- 
ment the  danger  of  mutiny.  Holies  and  his  fellow-leaders  were 
resolute,  and  their  ecclesiastical  legislation  showed  the  end  at 
which  their  resolution  aimed.  Direct  enforcement  of  conformity 
was  impossible  till  the  New  Model  was  disbanded  ;  but  the  Parlia- 
ment pressed  on  in  the  work  of  providing  the  machinery  for  en- 
forcing it  as  soon  as  the  army  was  gone.     Vote  after  vote  ordered 


BLACKSMITHS. 

Middle  Seventeenth  Century. 

Ballad   in    Roxburzhe    Collection. 


The 
Army 
and  the 
Parlia- 
ment 


the  setting  up  of  Presbyteries  throughout  the  country,  and  the 
first-fruits  of  these  efforts  were  seen  in  the  Presbyterian  organiza- 
tion of  London,  and  in  the  first  meeting  of  its  Synod  at  St. 
Paul's.  Even  the  officers  on  Fairfax's  staff  were  ordered  to  take 
the  Covenant. 

All  hung  however  on  the  disbanding  of  the  New  Model,  and  the 
New  Model  showed  no  will  to  disband  itself.  Its  attitude  can  only 
fairly  be  judged  by  remembering  what  many  of  the  conquerors  of 
Naseby  really  were.  They  were  soldiers  of  a  different  class  and 
of  a  different  temper  from  the  soldiers  of  any  other  army  that  the 
world  has  seen.  They  were  for  the  most  part  young  farmers  and 
tradesmen  of  the   lower   sort,  maintaining  themselves,  for  the  pay 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1189 


was  twelve  months  in  arrear,  mainly  at  their  own  cost.     The  horse-     Sec.  viii 
men  in  many  regiments  had  been  specially  picked  as  "  honest,"  or    t"e  army 

AND   THE 

religious  men  ;  and  whatever  enthusiasm  or  fanaticism  they  may 
have  shown,  their  very  enemies  acknowledged  the  order  and  piety 
of  their  camp.  They  looked  on  themselves  not  as  swordsmen,  to 
be  caught  up  and  flung  away  at  the  will  of  a  paymaster,  but  as 
men  who  had  left  farm  and  merchandise  at  a  direct  call  from  God. 
A  great  work  had  been  given  them  to  do,  and  the  call  bound 
them  till   it  was  done.      Kingcraft,  as  Charles   was   hoping,  might 


Citizen. 


Country  Man. 


Printedat  London forT.  B.  I  £4  \. 

THE    COUNTRYMAN'S    CARE    AND    THE    CITIZEN'S     FEAR. 
Tract,   1 64 1. 


Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 
I649 


yet  restore  tyranny  to  the  throne.  A  more  immediate  danger 
threatened  that  liberty  of  conscience  which  was  to  them  "  the 
ground  of  the  quarrel,  and  for  which  so  many  of  their  friends'  lives 
had  been  lost,  and  so  much  of  their  own  blood  had  been  spilt." 
They  would  wait  before  disbanding  till  these  liberties  were  secured, 
and  if  need  came  they  would  again  act  to  secure  them.  But  their 
resolve  sprang  from  no  pride  in  the  brute  force  of  the  sword  they 
wielded.  On  the  contrary,  as  they  pleaded  passionately  at  the  bar 
of  the  Commons,  •'  on  becoming  soldiers  we  have  not  ceased  to  be 
citizens."  Their  aims  and  proposals  throughout  were  purely 
Vol.  Ill— 17 


1190 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  viii    those  of  citizens,  and  of  citizens  who  were  ready  the  moment  their 
The  Army    a{m  was   WOn  to  return  peacefully  to   their  homes.     Thought  and 

AND   THE  A  y 

Parlia-     discussion  had  turned  the  army  into  a  vast  Parliament,  a  Parlia- 

MENT  ' 

1646       ment  which  regarded  itself  as  representative  of  "  godly  "  men  in 

TO 
1649 


HENRY     IRETOX. 
From  an  engraving  by  Honbraken  of  a  7>iiniatnre  by  S.   Cooper. 


as  high  a  degree  as  the  Parliament  at  Westminster,  and  which 
must  have  become  every  day  more  conscious  of  its  superiority  in 
political  capacity  to  its  rival.  Ireton,  the  moving  spirit  of  the 
New  Model,  had  no  equal  as  a  statesman  in  St.  Stephen's  :  nor  is 
it  possible  to  compare  the  large  and  far-sighted  proposals  of  the 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1191 


army    with    the    blind    and    narrow    policy    of    the    two    Houses.  Sec.  viii 

Whatever    we     may    think    of    the    means    by    which    the    New  The  army 

J                                                                                                            *  AND    THE 

Model    sought    its    aims,    we     must    in     justice    remember    that,  parlia- 
so      far      as      those      aims 


went,  the  New  Model  was 
in  the  right.  For  the  last 
two  hundred  years  England 
has  been  doing  little  more 
than  carrying  out  in  a 
slow  and  tentative  way  the 
scheme  of  political  and 
religious  reform  which  the 
army  propounded  at  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War. 
It  was  not  till  the  rejec- 
tion of  the  officers'  pro- 
posals had  left  little  hope 
of  conciliation  that  the 
army  acted,  but  its  action 
was  quick  and  decisive.  It 
set  aside  for  all  political 
purposes  the  Council  of 
Officers,  and  elected  a  new 
Council  of  Agitators  or 
Agents,  two  members  being 
named  by  each  regiment, 
which  summoned  a  general 
meeting  of  the  army  at 
Triploe  Heath,  where  the 
proposals  of  pay  and  dis- 
banding made  by  the  Par- 
liament were  rejected  with 
cries  of  "Justice."  While 
the  army  was  gathering, 
in  fact,  the    Agitators    had 

taken  a  step  which  put  submission  out  of  the  question.  A 
rumour  that  the  King  was  to  be  removed  to  London,  a  new  army 
raised,  a   new  civil  war    begun,  roused    the    soldiers    to    madness. 


g:lt   armour    given    to    charles    i. 
the    city    of    london. 

Tozver  of  London. 


BY 


1646 

TO 
I649 


n92  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  viii    Five  hundred  troopers  suddenly  appeared  before  Holmby  House, 
The  Army    where   the    King   was   residing  in  charge  of  Parliamentary  Com- 

AND   THE 

parlia-      missioners,   and    displaced   its   ?uarciS-     « Where   is  your  commis- 

MENT  r  °  J 

1646       sion   for  this  act  ? "    Charles    asked    the    cornet  who   commanded 

TO 
1649       them.      "  It  is   behind   me,"   said    Joyce,  pointing  to  his  soldiers. 

The  "  It  is  written  in  very  fine  and  legible  characters,"  laughed 
S?heUKing  the  King.  The  seizure  had  in  fact  been  previously  concerted 
June  1647  between  Charles  and  the  Agitators.  "  I  will  part  willingly,"  he 
told  Joyce,  "  if  the  soldiers  confirm  all  that  you  have  promised 
me.  You  will  exact  from  me  nothing  that  offends  my  conscience 
or  my  honour."  "It  is  not  our  maxim,"  replied  the  cornet,  "to 
constrain  the  conscience  of  any  one,  still  less  that  of  our  King." 
After  a  fresh  burst  of  terror  at  the  news,  the  Parliament  fell 
furiously  on  Cromwell,  who  had  relinquished  his  command  and 
quitted  the  army  before  the  close  of  the  war,  and  had  ever  since 
been  employed  as  a  mediator  between  the  two  parties.  The 
charge  of  having  incited  the  mutiny  fell  before  his  vehement  pro- 
test, but  he  was  driven  to  seek  refuge  with  the  army,  and  on  the 
25th  of  June  it  was  in  full  march  upon  London.  Its  demands 
were  expressed  with  perfect  clearness  in  an  "  Humble  Representa- 
tion "  which  it  addressed  to  the  Houses.  "  We  desire  a  settlement 
of  the  Peace  of  the  kingdom  and  of  the  liberties  of  the  subject 
according  to  the  votes  and  declarations  of  Parliament.  We  desire 
no  alteration  in  the  civil  government  :  as  little  do  we  desire  to 
interrupt  or  in  the  least  to  intermeddle  with  the  settling  of  the 
Presbyterial  government."  They  demanded  toleration  ;  but  "  not 
to  open  a  way  to  licentious  living  under  pretence  of  obtaining  ease 
for  tender  consciences,  we  profess,  as  ever,  in  these  things  when 
the  state  has  made  a  settlement  we  have  nothing  to  say,  but  to 
submit  or  suffer."  It  was  with  a  view  to  such  a  settlement  that 
they  demanded  the  expulsion  of  eleven  members  from  the  Com- 
mons, with  Holies  at  their  head,  whom  the  soldiers  charged  with 
stirring  up  strife  between  the  army  and  the  Parliament,  and  with 
a  design  of  renewing  the  civil  war.  After  fruitless  negotiations 
the  terror  of  the  Londoners  forced  the  eleven  to  withdraw  ; 
and  the  Houses  named  Commissioners  to  treat  on  the  questions  at 
issue. 

Though   Fairfax  and    Cromwell    had  been    forced    from  their 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


"93 


position  as  mediators  into  a  hearty  co-operation  with  the  army,  its 
political  direction  rested  at  this  moment  with  Cromwell's  son-in- 
law,  Henry  Ireton,  and  Ireton  looked  for  a  real  settlement,  not  to 
the  Parliament,  but  to  the  King.  "  There  must  be  some  differ- 
ence," he  urged  bluntly,  "  between  conquerors  and  conquered  ;  " 
but  the  terms  which  he  laid  before  Charles  were  terms  of  studied 
moderation.  The  vindictive  spirit  which  the  Parliament  had 
shown  against  the  royalists  and  the  Church  disappeared  in  the 
terms  exacted  by  the  New  Model  ;  and  the  army  contented  itself 
with  the  banishment  of  seven  leading  "  delinquents,"  a  general 
Act  of  Oblivion  for  the  rest,  the  withdrawal  of  all  coercive  power 
from  the  clergy,  the  control  of  Parliament  over  the  military  and 
naval  forces  for  ten  years,  and  its  nomination  of  the  great  officers 
of  state.  Behind  these  demands  however  came  a  masterlv  and 
comprehensive  plan  of  political  reform  which  had  already  been 
sketched  by  the  army  in  the  "Humble  Representation,"  with  which 
it  had  begun  its  march  on  London.  Belief  and  worship  were  to  be 
free  to  all.  Acts  enforcing  the  use  of  the  Prayer-book,  or  at- 
tendance at  Church,  or  the  enforcement  of  the  Covenant  were  to 
be  repealed.  Even  Catholics,  whatever  other  restraints  might  be 
imposed,  were  to  be  freed  from  the  bondage  of  compulsory  wor- 
ship. Parliaments  were  to  be  triennial,  and  the  House  of  Com- 
mons to  be  reformed  by  a  fairer  distribution  of  seats  and  of 
electoral  rights  ;  taxation  was  to  be  readjusted  ;  legal  procedure 
simplified  ;  a  crowd  of  political,  commercial,  and  judicial  privileges 
abolished.  Ireton  believed  that  Charles  could  be  "  so  managed  " 
(says  Mrs.  Hutchinson)  "  as  to  comply  with  the  public  good  of  his 
people  after  he  could  no  longer  uphold  his  violent  will."  But 
Charles  was  equally  dead  to  the  moderation  and  to  the  wisdom  of 
this  great  Act  of  Settlement.  He  saw  in  the  crisis  nothing  but  an 
opportunity  of  balancing  one  party  against  another  ;  and  believed 
that  the  army  had  more  need  of  his  aid  than  he  of  the  army's. 
"  You  cannot  do  without  me — you  are  lost  if  I  do  not  support 
you,"  he  said  to  Ireton  as  he  pressed  his  proposals.  "  You  have 
an  intention  to  be  the  arbitrator  between  us  and  the  Parliament," 
Ireton  quietly  replied,  "  and  we  mean  to  be  so  between  the  Parlia- 
ment and  your  Majesty."  But  the  King's  tone  was  soon  ex- 
plained.    A  mob  of  Londoners  broke  into  the  House  of  Commons, 


Sec.  VI 1 1 

The  Arm* 
and  THE 
Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 

1649 

The 

Army 

and   the 

King 


H94 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


AND   THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 
I649 


Aug.  6 


Sec.  viii    and  forced  its   members  to  recall  the  eleven.     While  some  fourteen 
The  Army    peers  and  a  hundred  commoners  fled  to  the  army,  those  who  re- 
mained at  Westminster  prepared  for  an  open  struggle  with  it,  and 
invited   Charles   to  return  to  London.      But   the   news  no   sooner 
reached  the  camp  than  the  army  was   again  on  the   march.     "In 
two  days,"  Cromwell  said  coolly,  "  the  city  will   be  in  our  hands." 
The  soldiers  entered  London  in  triumph,  and  restored   the  fugitive 
members  ;  the  eleven  were  again  expelled,  and  the  army  leaders 
resumed    negotiations    with    the    King.      The  indignation   of   the 
soldiers  at  his  delays  and  intrigues  made    the  task   hourly  more 
difficult  ;    but    Cromwell,    who    now  threw    his  whole    weight   on 
Ireton's  side,   clung  to  the  hope   of   accommodation  with   a   pas- 
sionate  tenacity.     His  mind,  conservative   by  tradition,  and  above 
all  practical  in  temper,  saw  the  political  difficulties  which  would 
follow  on  the  abolition  of  Monarchy,  and  in  spite  of  the  King's  eva- 
sions he  persisted  in   negotiating  with   him.     But  Cromwell  stood 
almost  alone  ;  the  Parliament  refused  to  accept  Ireton's  proposals 
as  a  basis  of  peace,  Charles  still  evaded,  and  the  army  grew  rest- 
less and  suspicious.     There  were  cries  for  a  wide  reform,  for  the 
abolition  of  the  House   of  Peers,  for  a   new  House  of  Commons  ; 
and  the  Agitators  called  on  the  Council  of  Officers  to  discuss  the 
question  of  abolishing  royalty  itself.     Cromwell  was  never  braver 
than  when  he  faced   the  gathering   storm,  forbade  the  discussion, 
adjourned  the    Council,  and    sent  the  officers   to  their  regiments. 
But  the  strain  was  too  great   to  last   long,   and    Charles   was  still 
resolute  "  to  play  his  game."     He  was  in  fact  so  far  from  being  in 
earnest  in  his  negotiation  with  Cromwell   and    Ireton,  that   at  the 
moment  they  were  risking  their  lives  for  him  he  was  conducting 
another  and    equally  delusive    negotiation    with    the    Parliament, 
fomenting  the  discontent  in  London,  preparing  for  a  fresh  royalist 


rising,  and  for  an  intervention  of  the  Scots  in   his  favour.     "  The 

two  nations,"  he  wrote  joyously,  "  will  soon  be  at  war."     All  that 

was  needed  for  the  success  of  his  schemes  was  his  own  libertv  ;  and 

Flight  0/  in  the  midst  of  their  hopes  of  an  accommodation  the  army  leaders 

Nov   1647  f°und  with  astonishment   that  they  had  been   duped  throughout 

and  that  the  King  had  fled. 

The  The  flight  fanned  the  excitement  of  the  New  Model  into  frenzv, 

Second  &  J  ' 

Civil  War  and  only  the  courage  of   Cromwell   averted   an  open    mutiny    in 


VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


"95 


its  gathering  at  Ware.     But  even  Cromwell  was  powerless  to  break  Sec.  viii 

the  spirit  which  now  pervaded  the  soldiers,  and  the  King's  perfidy  The 

left  him  without  resource.     "  The  King  is  a  man  of  great  parts  and  P^J^" 

great  understanding,"  he  said,  "  but  so  great  a  dissembler  and  so  1646 

false  a  man  that  he  is  not  to  be  trusted."       The  danger  from   his  1649 


GATEWAY    OF    CARISBROOK     CASTLE. 
After  J.   M.   W.    Turner. 


escape  indeed  soon  passed  away.  By  a  strange  error  Charles  had 
ridden  from  Hampton  Court  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  perhaps  with 
some  hope  from  the  sympathy  of  Colonel  Hammond,  the  Governor 
of  Carisbrook  Castle,  and  again  found  himself  a  prisoner.  Foiled 
in  his  effort  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  new  civil  war,  he  set 


1196 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP.. 


Sec.  viii  himself  to  organize  it  from  his  prison  ;  and  while  again  opening 
the  Army  delusive  negotiations  with  the  Parliament,  he  signed  a  secret  treaty 
with  the  Scots  for  the  invasion  of  the  realm.  The  practical 
suspension  of  the  Covenant  and  the  triumph  of  the  party  of 
religious  liberty  in  England  had  produced  a  violent  reaction  across 
the  Tweed.  The  moderate  party  had  gathered  round  the  Duke  of 
Hamilton,  and  carried  the  elections  against  Argyle  and  the  more 
zealous  religionists  ;  and  on  the  King's  consenting  to  a  stipulation 
1648       for  the  re-establishment  of  Presbytery  in  England,  they  ordered 


AND  THE 

Parlia 

MENT 

I646 

TO 
I649 


THE    HUMBLE    PETITION    OF    JOCK    OF    BREAD. 
Tract,  1648. 


an  army  to  be  levied  for  his  support.  In  England  the  whole  of  the- 
conservative  party,  with  many  of  the  most  conspicuous  members  of 
the  Long  Parliament  at  its  head,  was  drifting,  in  its  horror  of  the 
religious  and  political  changes  which  seemed  impending,  towards 
the  King  ;  and  the  news  from  Scotland  gave  the  signal  for  fitful 
insurrections  in  almost  every  quarter.  London  was  only  held 
down  by  main  force,  old  officers  of  the  Parliament  unfurled  the 
royal  flag  in  South  Wales,  and  surprised  Pembroke.  The  seizure 
of  Berwick  and  Carlisle  opened  a  way  for  the  Scotch  invasion. 
Kent,  Essex,  and  Hertford  broke  out  in  revolt.     The  fleet  in  the. 


vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1197 

Downs  sent   their   captains  on  shore,   hoisted   the  King's  pennon,     Sec.  viii 
and  blockaded  the  Thames.    "  The  hour  is  come  for  the  Parliament    The  army 

AND    THE 

to  save  the  kingdom  and  to  govern  alone,"  cried  Cromwell  ;  but  the  P*lLs1*~ 
Parliament  only  showed  itself  eager  to  take  advantage  of  the  crisis  1646 
to  profess  its  adherence  to  monarchy,  to  re-open  the  negotiations  it  1649 
had  broken  off  with  the  King,  and  to  deal  the  fiercest  blow  at  The 
religious  freedom  which  it  had  ever  received.  The  Presbyterians  and  the 
flocked  back  to  their  seats  ;  and  an  "  Ordinance  for  the  suppression  Army 
of  Blasphemies  and  Heresies,"  which  Vane  and  Cromwell  had  long 
held  at  bay,  was  passed  by  triumphant  majorities.  Any  man — 
ran  this  terrible  statute — denying  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  or  of 
the  Divinity  of  Christ,  or  that  the  books  of  Scripture  are  "  the 
Word  of  God,"  or  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  or  a  future  day  of 
judgment,  and  refusing  on  trial  to  abjure  his  heresy,  "shall  suffer 
the  pain  of  death."  Any  man  declaring  (amidst  a  long  list  of 
other  errors)  "  that  man  by  nature  hath  free  will  to  turn  to  God," 
that  there  is  a  Purgatory,  that  images  are  lawful,  that  infant 
baptism  is  unlawful  ;  any  one  denying  the  obligation  of  observing 
the  Lord's  day,  or  asserting  "  that  the  Church  government  by 
Presbytery  is  anti-Christian  or  unlawful,"  shall  on  a  refusal  to 
renounce  his  errors  ':  be  commanded  to  prison."  It  was  plain  that 
the  Presbyterians  counted  on  the  King's  success  to  resume  their 
policy  of  conformity,  and  had  Charles  been  free,  or  the  New  Model 
disbanded,  their  hopes  would  probably  have  been  realized.  But 
Charles  was  still  safe  at  Carisbrook  ;  and  the  New  Model  was 
facing  fiercely  the  danger  which  surrounded  it.  The  wanton 
renewal  of  the  war  at  a  moment  when  all  tended  to  peace  swept 
from  the  mind  of  Fairfax  and  Cromwell,  as  from  that  of  the  army 
at  large,  every  thought  of  reconciliation  with  the  King.  Soldiers 
and  generals  were  at  last  bound  together  again  in  a  stern 
resolve.  On  the  eve  of  their  march  against  the  revolt  all  gathered 
in  a  solemn  prayer-meeting,  and  came  "  to  a  very  clear  and  joint 
resolution,  g  That  it  was  our  duty,  if  ever  the  Lord  brought  us  back 
again  in  peace,  to  call  Charles  Stuart,  that  man  of  blood,  to  account 
for  the  blood  he  has  shed  and  mischief  he  has  done  to  his  utmost 
against  the  Lord's  cause  and  people  in  this  poor  nation.' '  In  a 
few  days  Fairfax  had  trampled  down  the  Kentish  insurgents,  and 
had    prisoned    those  of  the    eastern  counties  within    the   walls    of 


1198 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  VIII 
The  Army 

AND    THE 

Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 
1649 

The 

Scotch 

Invasion 


SIEGE     PIECE,     COLCHESTER, 
1648. 


Aug.  17, 

1648 


Ruin  of 
the  Par- 
liament 


Colchester,  while    Cromwell    drove    the  Welsh   insurgents    within 
those  of  Pembroke.      Both    towns   however   held   stubbornly  out  ; 

and  though  a  rising  under  Lord 
Holland  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
London  was  easily  put  down,  there 
was  no  force  left  to  stem  the  inroad 
of  the  Scots,  who  poured  over  the 
border  some  twenty  thousand  strong. 
Luckily  the  surrender  of  Pembroke 
at  this  critical  moment  set  Cromwell 
free.  Pushing  rapidly  northward  with 
five  thousand  men,  he  called  in  the 
force  under  Lambert,  which  had  been 
gallantly  hanging  on  the  Scottish  flank,  and  pushed  over  the 
Yorkshire  hills  into  the  valley  of  the  Ribble,  where  the  Duke 
of  Hamilton,  reinforced  by  three  thousand  royalists  of  the  north, 
had  advanced  as  far  as  Preston.  With  an  army  which  now 
numbered  ten  thousand  men,  Cromwell  poured  down  on  the  flank 
of  the  Duke's  straggling  line  of  march,  attacked  the  Scots  as 
they  retired  behind  the  Ribble,  passed  the  river  with  them,  cut 
their  rearguard  to  pieces  at  Wigan,  forced  the  defile  at  Warring- 
ton, where  the  flying  enemy  made  a  last  and  desperate  stand, 
and  drove  their  foot  to  surrender,  while  Lambert  hunted  down 
Hamilton  and  the  horse.  Fresh  from  its  victory,  the  New  Model 
pushed  over  the  Border,  while  the  peasants  of  Ayrshire  and 
the  west  rose  in  the  a  Whiggamore  raid "  (notable  as  the  first 
event  in  which  we  find  the  name  "  Whig,"  which  is  possibly 
the  same  as  our  "  Whey,"  and  conveys  a  taunt  against  the 
"sour-milk"  faces  of  the  fanatical  Ayrshiremen),  and  marching 
upon  Edinburgh  dispersed  the  royalist  party  and  again  installed 
Argyle  in  power. 

Argyle  welcomed  Cromwell  as  a  deliverer,  but  the  victorious 
general  had  hardly  entered  Edinburgh  when  he  was  recalled  by 
pressing  news  from  the  south.  The  temper  with  which  the  Parlia- 
ment had  met  the  royalist  revolt  was,  as  we  have  seen,  widely 
different  from  that  of  the  army.  It  had  recalled  the  eleven 
members,  and  had  passed  the  Ordinance  against  heresy.  At  the 
moment    of  the    victory    at    Preston    the    Lords    were    discussing 


VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


1199 


charges  of  treason   against    Cromwell,  while  commissioners    were     Sec.  viii 
again  sent  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  in   spite   of  the   resistance   of  the    Thk  Army 

o  o       '  r  AND  THE 

Independents,  to  conclude  peace  with  the  King.  Royalists  and 
Presbyterians  alike  pressed  Charles  to  grasp  the  easy  terms  which 
were  now  offered  him.  But  his  hopes  from  Scotland  had  only 
broken  down  to  give  place  to  hopes  of  a  new  war  with  the  aid  of  an 
army  from  Ireland  ;  and  the  negotiators  saw  forty  days  wasted  in 
useless  chicanery.       "  Nothing,"  Charles  wrote  to  his  friends,   "  is 


Parlia- 
ment 

1646 

TO 
1649 


COLCHESTER    CASTLE. 
After  U\  H.  Bartlett. 


changed  in  my  designs."  But  the  surrender  of  Colchester  to 
Fairfax  in  August,  and  Cromwell's  convention  with  Argyle,  had 
now  set  free  the  army,  and  petitions  from  its  regiments  at  once  Demands 
demanded  "  justice  on  the  King."  A  fresh  "  Remonstrance  "  from  Army 
the  Council  of  Officers  called  for  the  election  of  a  new  Parliament ; 
for  electoral  reform  ;  for  the  recognition  of  the  supremacy  of  the 
Houses  "  in  all  things  ;  "  for  the  change  of  kingship,  should  it  be 
retained,  into  a  magistracy  elected  by  the  Parliament,  and  without 
veto  on    its  proceedings.      Above   all,  they   demanded    "  that  the 


1200  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap,  vm 

Sec.  vm    capital  and  grand  author  of  our  troubles,   by   whose  commissions, 
the  army    commands,  and  procurements,  and  in  whose  behalf  and  for  whose 

AND    THE 

Pment       interest  only,  of  will  and  power,  all  our  wars  and    troubles  have 
1646       been,  with  all  the  miseries  attending  them,  may  be  specially  brought 
1649       to  justice  for  the  treason,  blood,  and  mischief  he  is  therein  guilty 
of."      The  demand  drove  the  Houses  to  despair.      Their  reply  was 
to  accept  the  King's  concessions,  unimportant  as  they  were,  as  a 
basis    of  peace.      The  step    was    accepted    by    the    soldiers    as   a 
Nov.  30     defiance  :    Charles    was    again    seized    by    a    troop  of  horse,    and 
carried  off  to  Hurst  Castle,  while  a  letter  from  Fairfax  announced 
the  march  of  his  army  upon  London.     "We  shall  know  now,"  said 
Vane,  as  the  troops  took  their  post  round  the  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, "  who  is  on  the  side  of  the  King,  and  who  on  the  side  of  the 
people."       But  the  terror  of  the  army  proved    weaker  among  the 
members    than    the    agonized    loyalty   which    strove   to    save    the 
monarchy  and  the  Church,  and  a   large   majority  in   both   Houses 
still  voted   for  the    acceptance    of   the   terms    which    Charles  had 
Pride's     offered.     The  next  morning   saw  Colonel  Pride  at   the  door  of  the 

urge      House  of  Commons  with  a  list  of  .forty  members  of  the  majority  in 
Dec.  6  .  y  J         J 

his  hands.  The  Council  of  Officers  had  resolved  to  exclude  them, 
and  as  each  member  made  his  appearance  he  was  arrested,  and  put 
in  confinement.  "  By  what  right  do  you  act  ?  "  a  member  asked. 
"  By  the  right  of  the  sword,"  Hugh  Peters  is  said  to  have  replied. 
The  House  was  still  resolute,  but  on  the  following  morning  forty 
more  members  were  excluded,  and  the  rest  gave  way.  The  sword 
had  fallen  ;  and  the  two  great  powers  which  had  waged  this  bitter 
conflict,  the  Parliament  and  the  Monarchy,  suddenly  disappeared. 
The  expulsion  of  one  hundred  and  forty  members,  in  a  word  of  the 
majority  of  the  existing  House,  reduced  the  Commons  to  a  name. 
The  remnant  who  remained  to  co-operate  with  the  army  were  no 
longer  representative  of  the  will  of  the  country  ;  in  the  coarse 
imagery  of  popular  speech  they  were  but  the  "  rump  "  of  a  Parlia- 
ment. While  the  House  of  Commons  dwindled  to  a  sham,  the 
House  of  Lords  passed  away  altogether.  The  effect  of  "  Pride's 
Purge"  was  seen  in  a  resolution  of  the  Rump  for  the  trial  of 
Charles  and  the  nomination  of  a  Court  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
Commissioners  to  conduct  it,  with  John  Bradshaw,  a  lawyer  of 
eminence,  at  their  head.      The  rejection  of  this  Ordinance  by  the 


at   ,  ,,  TRIAL    OF    CHARLES    T 

*"*°*>"Tme  Co*  of  the  Journal  of  them* k  cZ t  If  7     r      ,       , 

Charles  I.f'  \es4 T  °f  ?"**•  M  «•  Tryal  of  A', 


1202  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap,  viii 


Sec.  viii    few  peers  who    remained   brought   about  a   fresh   resolution   from 
The  army    members  who  remained  in  the  Lower  House,  "  that  the  People  are, 

AND    THE 

Parlia-      under  God,  the  original  of  all  just  power  ;  that  the   Commons   of 
1646       England   in   Parliament  assembled — being  chosen  by,  and   repre- 

TO 

1649       senting,  the  People — have  the  supreme  power  in  this  nation  ;   and 

that  whatsoever  is  enacted  and  declared  for  law   by  the  Commons 

in   Parliament   assembled    hath  the    force   of    a   law,  and    all   the 

people  of  this  nation  are  concluded  thereby,  although  the  consent 

and    concurrence    of  the    King    or    House    of   Peers    be    not    had 

thereunto." 

The  Charles   appeared   before    Bradshaw's    Court  only  to   deny   its 

King's  *^  . 

Death      competence  and  to  refuse  to  plead  ;  but  thirty-two  witnesses  were 

examined  to  satisfy  the  consciences  of  his  judges,  and  it  was  not 

till   the  fifth  day  of   the   trial  that  he   was   condemned   to  death 

as  a   tyrant,   traitor,   murderer,  and   enemy  of  his   country.     The 

popular  excitement   vented   itself    in   cries  of  "  Justice,"  or  "  God 

save  your  Majesty,"  as   the  trial   went  on,  but   all   save   the   loud 

outcries  of  the  soldiers  was  hushed  as   Charles  passed  to  receive 

Jan.  30,    his  doom.     The   dignity   which  he   had   failed   to   preserve   in   his 

long   jangling   with    Bradshaw    and    the   judges    returned    at    the 

call  of  death.     Whatever  had  been   the   faults  and   follies  of   his 

life,  "  he   nothing  common   did   nor   mean,   upon   that  memorable 

scene."      Two    masked    executioners    awaited    the    King   as    he 

mounted    the    scaffold,   which    had    been    erected    outside'  one    of 

the  windows  of   the  Banqueting  House  at  Whitehall  ;  the  streets 

and  roofs  were  thronged   with  spectators,   and   a   strong  body   of 

soldiers    stood    drawn    up    beneath.      His    head    fell    at    the    first 

blow,  and   as  the  executioner  lifted  it  to  the  sight  of  all  a  groan 

of  pity  and  horror  burst  from  the  silent  crowd. 


OLIVER    CROMWELL. 
From  a  contemporary  Dutch  engraving. 


-  *_t: 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1205 


Section  IX. — The  Commonwealth,  1649 — 1653 

[Authorities. — Rushworth's  collection  ceases  with  the  King's  Trial ;  White- 
lock  and  Ludlow  continue  as  before,  and  must  be  supplemented  by  the  Parlia- 
mentary History  and  the  State  Trials.  Special  lives  of  Vane  and  Martyn  will 
be  found  in  Mr.  Forster's  "  Statesmen  of  the  Commonwealth,"  and  a  vigorous 
defence  of  the  Council  of  State  in  the  "  History  of  the  Commonwealth,"  by  Mr. 
Bisset.  For  Irish  affairs  see  the  Ormond  Papers  collected  by  Carte,  and 
Cromwell's  despatches  in  Carlyle's  "  Letters."  The  account  given  by  Mr. 
Carlyle  of  the  Scotch  war  is  perhaps  the  most  valuable  portion  of  his  work. 
The  foreign  politics  and  wars  of  this  period  are  admirably  illustrated  with  a 
copious  appendix  of  documents  by  M.  Guizot  ("  Republic  and  Cromwell," 
vol.  i.)j  whose  account  of  the  whole  period  is  the  fairest  and  best  for  the  general 
reader.  Mr.  Hepworth  Dixon  has  published  a  biography  of  Blake.]  [Mr. 
Masson's  "  Life  of  Milton,"  vols.  iv.  and  v.,  which  illustrate  this  period,  have 
been  published  since  this  list  was  drawn  up. — Ed.] 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


The  news  of  the  King's  death  was  received  throughout  Europe 
with  a  thrill  of  horror.  The  Czar  of  Russia  chased  the  English 
envoy  from  his  court.  The  ambassador  of  France  was  withdrawn 
on  the  proclamation  of  the  Republic.  The  Protestant  powers 
of  the  Continent  seemed  more  anxious  than  any  to  disavow 
all  connexion  with  the  Protestant  people  who  had  brought  their 
King  to  the  block.  Holland  took  the  lead  in  acts  of  open  hostility 
to  the  new  power  as  soon  as  the  news  of  the  execution  reached 
the  Hague  ;  the  States-General  waited  solemnly  on  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  who  took  the  title  of  Charles  the  Second,  and  recog- 
nized him  as  "  Majesty,"  while  they  refused  an  audience  to  the 
English  envoys.  Their  Stadtholder,  his  brother-in  law,  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  was  supported  by  popular  sympathy  in  the  aid  and 
encouragement  he  afforded  to  Charles  ;  and  eleven  ships  of  the 
English  fleet,  which  had  found  a  refuge  in  the  Hague  ever  since 
their  revolt  from  the  Parliament,  were  suffered  to  sail  under 
Rupert's  command,  and  to  render  the  seas  unsafe  for  English 
traders.     The  danger   was  far  greater  nearer  home.      In  Scotland 

Argyle  and  his    party  proclaimed  Charles  the  Second  King,  and 
Vol.  Ill— 18 


The 
Council 
of  State 


I2o6 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IX 

The 

Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


Abohtioji 

of 
Monarchy 


May  19 


The 

Rump 

and  the 

Army 


despatched   an   Embassy  to  the   Hague   to  invite  him  to  ascend 
the  throne.     In   Ireland,   Ormond  had   at   last   brought   to    some 
sort  of  union  the  factions  who  ever  since  the  rebellion  had  turned 
the    land    into  a   chaos — the  old   Irish  Catholics  or   native  party 
under    Owen    Roe    O'Neil,    the    Catholics    of    the    English    Pale, 
the    Episcopalian    Royalists,    the    Presbyterian    Royalists    of    the 
north  ;  and  Ormond  called  on  Charles  to  land  at  once  in  a  country 
where  he  would   find   three-fourths  of   its  people   devoted  to   his 
cause.     Nor  was  the   danger  from  without  met  by  resolution  and 
energy  on  the  part  of  the  diminished  Parliament  which  remained 
the  sole  depositary  of  legal  powers.     The   Commons   entered  on 
their  new  task  with  hesitation  and  delay.     Six  weeks  passed  after 
the  King's  execution  before  the  monarchy  was  formally  abolished, 
and  the  government  of  the  nation  provided   for  by  the  creation 
of  a  Council  of    State  consisting  of    forty-one   members   selected 
from  the  Commons,  who  were  entrusted  with  full  executive  power 
at    home    or    abroad.       Two    months    more    elapsed    before    the 
passing  of   the  memorable  Act  which  declared  "  that  the  People 
of  England  and   of   all   the   dominions  and   territories    thereunto 
belonging    are,  and   shall   be,   and   are   hereby  constituted,   made, 
established,  and  confirmed  to  be  a  Commonwealth  and  Free  State, 
and    shall    henceforward    be    governed    as  a  Commonwealth    and 
Free  State  by  the   supreme  authority   of    this  nation,   the   repre- 
sentatives of  the  People  in  Parliament,  and  by  such  as  they  shall 
appoint    and    constitute    officers    and    ministers    for    the    good    of 
the  people,  and  that  without  any  King  or  House  of  Lords." 

Of  the  dangers  which  threatened  the  new  Commonwealth  some 
were  more  apparent  than  real.  The  rivalry  of  France  and  Spain, 
both  anxious  for  its  friendship,  secured  it  from  the  hostility  of 
the  greater  powers  of  the  Continent  ;  and  the  ill-will  of  Holland 
could  be  delayed,  if  not  averted,  by  negotiations.  The  acceptance 
of  the  Covenant  was  insisted  on  by  Scotland  before  it  would 
formally  receive  Charles  as  its  ruler,  and  nothing  but  necessity 
would  induce  him  to  comply  with  such  a  demand.  On  the  side 
of  Ireland  the  danger  was  more  pressing,  and  an  army  of  twelve 
thousand  men  was  set  apart  for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
Irish  war.  But  the  real  difficulties  were  the  difficulties  at  home. 
The  death   of    Charles   gave    fresh  vigour  to  the   royalist  cause, 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1207 


and  the  new  loyalty  was  stirred  to  enthusiasm  by  the  publication 
of  the  "  Eikon   Basilike,"  a  work   really  due  to  the   ingenuity  of 
Dr.    Gauden,   a    Presbyterian    minister,    but    which    was    believed 
to  have  been  composed   by  the  King  himself    in   his  later  hours 
of  captivity,  and  which  reflected  with  admirable  skill   the  hopes, 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


FRONTISPIECE    OF     "  EIKON     BASILIKE,"     164S. 


the  suffering,  and  the  piety  of  the  royal  "  martyr/'  The  dreams 
of  a  rising  were  roughly  checked  by  the  execution  of  the  Duke 
of  Hamilton  and  Lords  Holland  and  Capell,  who  had  till  now 
been  confined  in  the  Tower.  But  the  popular  disaffection  told 
even  on  the  Council  of  State.  A  majority  of  its  members  declined 
the  oath  offered  to  them  at  their  earliest  meeting,  pledging  them 


I2o8  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  ix  to  an  approval  of  the  King's  death  and  the  establishment  of  the 

the  Commonwealth.      Half  the  judges  retired  from  the  bench.     Thou- 

COMMON- 

wealth  sands  of  refusals  met  the  demand  of  an  engagement  to  be  faithful 

to  to  the  Republic  which  was  made  to  all  beneficed   clergymen   and 


1653 


public  functionaries.     It  was  not  till  May,  and  even  then  in  spite 
of  the  ill-will  of  the  citizens,  that  the  Council  ventured  to  proclaim 
the  Commonwealth  in  London.     The  army  indeed  had  no  thought 
of   setting   up  a   mere  military  rule.     Still  less  did  it  contemplate 
leaving  the  conduct  of  affairs  to  the  small  body  of  members  which 
still  called  itself  the  House  of  Commons,  a  body  which  numbered 
hardly  a  hundred,  and  whose  average  attendance  was  little  more 
than  fifty.     In  reducing  it  by  "  Pride's  Purge  "  to  the  mere  shadow 
of  a  House  the  army  had   never  dreamed  of    its   continuance  as 
a   permanent   assembly  ;    it  had,   in   fact,  insisted   as   a  condition 
of  even   its   temporary  continuance  that  it   should   prepare   a   bill 
for  the  summoning  of  a  fresh  Parliament.     The  plan  put  forward 
by  the  Council  of  Officers  is  still  interesting  as  the  basis  of  many 
later  efforts  towards  parliamentary  reform.      It  advised  a  dissolu- 
tion   in    the    spring,    the    assembling   every   two  years  of   a   new 
Parliament   consisting   of    four   hundred   members    elected    by  all 
householders  rateable  to  the   poor,  and   a  redistribution  of   seats 
which  would  have  given   the  privilege  of  representation  to   every 
place  of  importance.     Paid  military  officers  and  civil  officials  were 
excluded   from   election.     The   plan   was  apparently   accepted   by 
the  Commons,  and  a  bill   based   on  it  was   again   and   again   dis- 
cussed, but  there  was  a  suspicion  that  no  serious   purpose   of  its 
own    dissolution    was   entertained    by    the    House.     The    popular 
discontent  found    a    mouthpiece    in   John    Lilburnc,  a  brave,   hot- 
headed soldier,  and  the  excitement  of  the  army  appeared  suddenly 
in  a  formidable  mutiny  in   May.     "  You  must  cut  these   people  in 
pieces,"  Cromwell  broke  out  in  the  Council  of  State,  "  or  they  will 
cut  you  in  pieces  ; "  and  a  forced  march  of  fifty  miles  to  Burford 
enabled    him    to    burst    on  the   mutinous  regiments  at   midnight, 
and   to   stamp  out    the    revolt.     But    resolute    as    he  was  against 
disorder,  Cromwell  went  honestly  with   the  army   in   its   demand 
of   a  new   Parliament  ;    he   believed,  and   in   his  harangue   to   the 
mutineers    he   pledged    himself  to   the  assertion,   that  -the    House 
proposed  to  dissolve  itself.     Within  the  House,  however,  a  vigorous 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1209 


Sec.  IX 


The 

Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


knot  of  politicians  was  resolved  to  prolong  its  existence  ;  in  a 
witty  paraphrase  of  the  story  of  Moses,  Henry  Martyn  was  soon 
to  picture  the  Commonwealth  as  a  new-born  and  delicate  babe, 
and  hint  that  "  no  one  is  so  proper  to  bring  it  up  as  the  mother 
who  has  brought  it  into  the  world."  As  yet,  however,  their 
intentions  were  kept  secret,  and  in  spite  of  the  delays  thrown 
in  the  way  of  the  bill  for  a  new  Representative  body  Cromwell 
entertained  no  serious  suspicion  of  the  Parliament's  design,  when  Aug.  1649 
he  was  summoned  to  Ireland  by  a  series  of  royalist  successes 
which  left  only  Dublin  in  the  hands  of  the  Parliamentary  forces. 

With  Scotland  threatening  war,  and  a  naval  struggle  impending 
with  Holland,  it  was  necessary  that  the  work  of  the  army  in 
Ireland  should  be  done  quickly.     The  temper,  too,  of   Cromwell 


The 

Conquest 

of 

Ireland 


DROGHEDA- 
Dra-duing,  c.  i63o,  in  British  Museum. 


and  his  soldiers  was  one  of  vengeance,  for  the  horror  of  the  Irish 
massacre  remained  living  in  every  English  breast,  and  the  revolt 
was  looked  upon  as  a  continuance  of  the  massacre.  "  We  are 
come,"  he  said  on  his  landing,  "  to  ask  an  account  of  the  innocent 
blood  that  hath  been  shed,  and  to  endeavour  to  bring  to  an 
account  all  who  by  appearing  in  arms  shall  justify  the  same." 
A  sortie  from  Dublin  had  already  broken  up  Ormond's  siege  of 
the  capital  ;  and  feeling  himself  powerless  to  keep  the  field  before 
the  new  army,  the  Marquis  had  thrown  his  best  troops,  three 
thousand  Englishmen  under  Sir  Arthur  Aston,  as  a  garrison  into 
Drogheda.     The  storm   of   Drogheda  by  Cromwell  was   the  first  Sept.  1649 


I2IO 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


of  a  series  of  awful  massacres.  The  garrison  fought  bravely, 
and  repulsed  the  first  attack ;  but  a  second  drove  Aston  and 
his  force  back  to  the  Mill-Mount.  "  Our  men  getting  up  to 
them,"  ran  Cromwell's  terrible  despatch,  "  were  ordered  by  me 
to  put  them  all  to  the  sword.     And   indeed,  being  in   the  heat  of 


S.  LAURENCES  GATE,  DROGHEDA. 


action,  I  forbade  them  to  spare  any  that  were  in  arms  in  the  town, 
and  I  think  that  night  they  put  to  death  about  two  thousand 
men."  A  few  fled  to  St.  Peter's  Church,  "  whereupon  I  ordered 
the  steeple  to  be  fired,  where  one  of  them  was  heard  to  say  in 
the  midst  of  the  flames:  'God  damn  me,  I  burn,  I  burn.''  "In 
the   church   itself  nearly  one    thousand    were   put    to   the    sword. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


I2II 


I  believe  all  their  friars  were  knocked  on  the  head  promiscuously 
but  two,"  but  these  were  the  sole  exceptions  to  the  rule  of  killing 
soldiers  only.  At  a  later  time  Cromwell  challenged  his  enemies 
to  give  "an  instance  of  one  man  since  my  coming  into  Ireland, 
not  in  arms,  massacred,  destroyed,  or  banished."  But  for  soldiers 
who  refused  to  surrender  on  summons  there  was  no  mercy.  Of 
the  remnant  who  were  driven  to  yield  at  last  through  hunger 
"when  they  submitted,  their  officers  were  knocked  on  the  head, 
every  tenth  man  of  the  soldiers  killed,  and   the  rest  shipped  for 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


REGINALD'S    TOWER,    WATERFORD. 
After  W.  H.  Bartlett. 


the  Barbadoes."  "I  am  persuaded,"  the  despatch  ends,  "that 
this  is  a  righteous  judgement  of  God  upon  these  barbarous  wretches 
who  have  imbrued  their  hands  in  so  much  innocent  blood,  and 
that  it  will  tend  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood  for  the  future." 
A  detachment  sufficed  to  relieve  Deny,  and  to  quiet  Ulster  ; 
and  Cromwell  turned  to  the  south,  where  as  stout  a  defence  was 
followed  by  as  terrible  a  massacre  at  Wexford.  A  fresh  success 
at  Ross  brought  him  to  Waterford  ;  but  the  city  held  stubbornly 
out,  disease  thinned   his  army,  where   there  was   scarce  an   officer 


1212 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IX 

The 

Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


who  had  not  been  sick,  and  the  general  himself  was  arrested  by 
illness.  At  last  the  tempestuous  weather  drove  him  into  winter 
quarters  at  Cork  with  his  work  half  done.  The  winter  was  one 
of  terrible  anxiety.  The  Parliament  was  showing  less  and  less 
inclination   to  dissolve  itself,  and  was   meeting  the  growing  dis- 


cork,  a.d.  1633. 

Stafford,   "  gacata  Hibernia"  1633. 


content  by  a  stricter  censorship  of  the  press,  and  a  fruitless 
prosecution  of  John  Lilburne.  English  commerce  was  being 
ruined  by  the  piracies  of  Rupert's  fleet,  which  now  anchored  at 
Kinsale  to  support  the  royalist  cause  in  Ireland.  The  energy 
of  Vane  indeed  had  already  re-created  a  navy,  squadrons  of  which 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1213 


were  being  despatched  into  the  British  seas,  the  Mediterranean,  and 
the  Levant,  and  Colonel  Blake,  who  had  distinguished  himself 
by  his  heroic  defence  of  Taunton  during  the  war,  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  a  fleet  which  drove  Rupert  from  the  Irish  coast,  and 
finally  blockaded  him  in  the  Tagus.  But  even  the  energy  of  Vane 
quailed  before  the  danger  from  the  Scots.  "  One  must  go  and 
die  there,"  the  young  King  cried  at  the  news  of  Ormond's  defeat 
before  Dublin,  "  for  it  is  shameful  for  me  to  live  elsewhere."  But 
his  ardour  for  an  Irish  campaign  cooled  as  Cromwell  marched 
from  victory  to  victory  ;  and  from  the  isle  of  Jersey,  which  alone 
remained  faithful  to  him  of  all  his  southern  dominions,  Charles 
renewed  the  negotiations  with  Scotland  which  his  hopes  from  Ireland 
had  broken.  They  were  again  delayed  by  a  proposal  on  the  part 
of  Montrose  to  attack  the  very  Government  with  whom  his  master 
was  negotiating ;  but  the  failure  and  death  of  the  Marquis  in 
the  spring  forced  Charles  to  accept  the  Presbyterian  conditions. 
The  news  of  the  negotiations  filled  the  English  leaders  with 
dismay,  for  Scotland  was  raising  an  army,  and  Fairfax,  while 
willing  to  defend  England  against  a  Scotch  invasion,  scrupled 
to  take  the  lead  in  an  invasion  of  Scotland.  The  Council 
recalled  Cromwell  from  Ireland,  but  his  cooler  head  saw  that 
there  was  yet  time  to  finish  his  work  in  the  west.  During  the 
winter  he  had  been  busily  preparing  for  a  new  campaign,  and  it 
was  only  after  the  storm  of  Clonmell,  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
Irish  under  Hugh  O'Neil,  that  he  embarked  again  for  England. 

Cromwell  entered  London  amidst  the  shouts  of  a  great 
multitude  ;  and  a  month  after  Charles  had  landed  on  the  shores  of 
Scotland  the  English  army  started  for  the  north.  It  crossed  the 
Tweed,  fifteen  thousand  men  strong ;  but  the  terror  of  his 
massacres  in  Ireland  hung  round  its  leader,  the  country  was 
deserted  as  he  advanced,  and  he  was  forced  to  cling  for  provisions 
to  a  fleet  which  sailed  along  the  coast.  David  Leslie,  with  a  larger 
force,  refused  battle  and  lay  obstinately  in  his  lines  between 
Edinburgh  and  Leith.  A  march  of  the  English  army  round  his 
position  to  the  slopes  of  the  Pentlands  only  brought  about  a 
change  of  the  Scottish  from:  ;  and  as  Cromwell  fell  back  baffled 
upon  Dunbar,  Leslie  encamped  upon  the  heights  above  the  town, 
and  cut  off  the  English  retreat  along  the  coast  by  the  seizure  of 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 

1653 


Charles 

and  the 

Scots 


i6;o 


Dunbar 
and  Wor- 
cester 


July  1650 


1214 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 

Dunbar 
Sept  3 


Cockburns-path.  His  post  was  almost  unassailable,  while  the 
soldiers  of  Cromwell  were  sick  and  starving  ;  and  their  general  had 
resolved  on  an  embarcation  of  his  forces,  when  he  saw  in  the  dusk 
of  evening  signs  of  movement  in  the  Scottish  camp.  Leslie's 
caution  had  at  last  been  overpowered  by  the  zeal  of  the  preachers, 
and  his  army  moved  down  to  the  lower  ground  between  the 
hillside  on  which  it  was  encamped  and  a  little  brook  which 
covered  the  English  front.  His  horse  was  far  in  advance  of  the 
main    body,   and   it  had   hardly  reached  the   level  ground    when 


DUNBAR. 


Cromwell  in  the  dim  dawn  flung  his  whole  force  upon  it.  '  They 
run  ;  I  profess  they  run  ! "  he  cried  as  the  Scotch  horse  broke  after 
a  desperate  resistance,  and  threw  into  confusion  the  foot  who  were 
hurrying  to  its  aid.  Then,  as  the  sun  rose  over  the  mist  of  the 
morning,  he  added  in  nobler  words  :  "  Let  God  arise,  and  let  His 
enemies  be  scattered  !  Like  as  the  mist  vanisheth,  so  shalt  Thou 
drive  them  away!"  In  less  than  an  hour  the  victory  was 
complete.  The  defeat  at  once  became  a  rout  ;  ten  thousand 
prisoners    were    taken,    with    all    the    baggage    and    guns  ;    three 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1215 


thousand  were  slain,  with  scarce  any  loss  on  the  part  of  the 
conquerors.  Leslie  reached  Edinburgh,  a  general  without  an 
army.  The  effect  of  Dunbar  was  at  once  seen  in  the  attitude  of 
the  Continental  powers.  Spain  hastened  to  recognize  the 
Republic,  and  Holland  offered  its  alliance.  But  Cromwell  was 
watching  with  anxiety  the  growing  discontent  at  home.  The 
general  amnesty  claimed  by  Ireton,  and  the  bill  for  the  Parlia- 
ment's dissolution,  still  hung  on  hand  ;  the  reform  of  the  courts  of 
justice,  which  had  been  pressed  by  the  army,  failed  before  the 
obstacles  thrown  in  its  way  by  the  lawyers  in  the  Commons. 
"  Relieve  the  oppressed,"  Cromwell  wrote  from  Dunbar,  "  hear  the 
groans  of  poor  prisoners.      Be  pleased  to  reform  the  abuses  of  all 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


MEDAL    TO    COMMEMORATE    THE    VICTORY    AT    DUNBAR. 
Made  by  Thomas  Simon  ;   the  design  suggested  by  Cromwell. 


professions.  If  there  be  any  one  that  makes  many  poor  to  make  a 
few  rich,  that  suits  not  a  Commonwealth."  But  the  House  was  Break 
seeking  to  turn  the  current  of  public  opinion  in  favour  of  its  own  Hrffand 
continuance  by  a  great  diplomatic  triumph.  It  resolved  secretly 
on  the  wild  project  of  bringing  about  a  union  between  England 
and  Holland,  and  it  took  advantage  of  Cromwell's  victory  to 
despatch  Oliver  St.  John  with  a  stately  embassy  to  the  Hague. 
His  rejection  of  an  alliance  and  Treaty  of  Commerce  which  the 
Dutch  offered  was  followed  by  the  disclosure  of  the  English 
proposal  of  union,  but  the  proposal  was  at  once  refused.  The 
envoys,  who  returned  angrily  to  the  Parliament,  attributed  their 
failure  to  the  posture  of  affairs  in  Scotland,  where  Charles  was  pre- 


I2l6 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec,  ix  paring  for  a  new  campaign.  Humiliation  after  humiliation  had 
been  heaped  on  Charles  since  he  landed  in  his  northern  realm. 
He  had  subscribed  to  the  Covenant ;  he  had  listened  to  sermons 
and  scoldings  from  the  ministers  ;  he  had  been  called  on  to  sign  a 
declaration  that  acknowledged  the  tyranny  of  his  father  and  the 
idolatry  of  his  mother.  Hardened  and  shameless  as  he  was,  the 
young   King   for  a  moment  recoiled.     "  I   could  never   look   my 


The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


THE    SCOTS  HOZD1NG  XJj£ra*DVNJ 


GES-  HOSE  TOY  GRJ#|t$j 


"the  scots  holding  their  young  king's  nose  to  the  grindstone.' 

Broadside,  1651,  in  British  Museum. 


mother  in  the  face  again,"  he  cried,  "  after  signing  such  a  paper  ;  " 
but  he  signed.  He  was  still,  however,  a  King  only  in  name,  shut 
out  from  the  Council  and  the  army,  with  his  friends  excluded  from 
all  part  in  government  or  the  war.  But  he  was  at  once  freed  by 
the  victory  of  Dunbar.  "  I  believe  the  King  will  set  up  on  his  own 
score  now,"  Cromwell  wrote  after  his  victory.  With  the  overthrow 
of  Leslie  fell  the  power  of  Argyle  and  the  narrow  Presbyterians 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1 217 


whom  he  led.  Hamilton,  the  brother  and  successor  of  the  Duke 
who  had  been  captured  at  Preston,  brought  back  the  royalists  to 
the  camp,  and  Charles  insisted  on  taking  part  in  the  Council  and 
on  being  crowned  at  Scone.  Master  of  Edinburgh,  but  foiled  in 
an  attack  on  Stirling,  Cromwell  waited  through  the  winter  and  the 
long  spring,  while  intestine  feuds  broke  up  the  nation  opposed  to 
him,  and  while  the  stricter  Covenanters  retired  sulkily  from   the 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
I653 

I65O- 165] 


CROWNING    OF    CHARLES     II.     AT     SCONE. 
Konincklijcke  Beltenis  ran  Karel  de  IT.,"  Dordrecht,  1661. 


royal  army  on  the  return  of  the  "  Malignants,"  the  royalists  of  the 
earlier  war,  to  its  ranks.  With  summer  the  campaign  recom- 
menced, but  Leslie  again  fell  back  on  his  system  of  positions,  and 
Cromwell,  finding  the  Scotch  camp  at  Stirling  unassailable, 
crossed  into  Fife  and  left  the  road  open  to  the  south.  The  bait 
was  taken.  In  spite  of  Leslie's  counsels  Charles  resolved  to  invade 
England,  and  was  soon  in  full  march  through  Lancashire  upon  the 


I2l3 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 

Worcester 

Sept  3, 

1651 


Severn,  with  the  English  horse  under  Lambert  hanging  on  his  rear, 
and  the  English  foot  hastening  by  York  and  Coventry  to  close  the 
road  to  London.  "  We  have  done  to  the  best  of  our  judgement/' 
Cromwell  replied  to  the  angry  alarm  of  the  Parliament,  "  knowing 
that  if  some  issue  were  not  put  to  this  business  it  would  occasion 
another  winter's  war."     At  Coventry  he  learnt  Charles's  position, 


CHARLES    II.    RIDING    OUT    OF    WORCESTER. 
"  Konincklijcke  Beltenis,"  1661 


and  swept  round  by  Evesham  upon  Worcester,  where  the  Scotch 
King  was  encamped.  Throwing  half  his  force  across  the  river, 
Cromwell  attacked  the  town  on  both  sides  on  the  anniversary  of 
his  victory  at  Dunbar.  He  led  the  van  in  person,  and  was  "the 
first  to  set  foot  on  the  enemy's  ground."  When  Charles  descended 
from  the  cathedral  tower  to  fling  himself  on  the  eastern  division, 
Cromwell  hurried  back  across  the  Severn,  and  was  soon  "  riding  in 
the  midst  of  the  fire."     For  four  or  five  hours,  he  told  the  Parlia- 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


ment,  "  it  was  as  stiff  a  contest  as  ever  I  have  seen  ; "  the  Scots, 
outnumbered  and  beaten  into  the  city,  gave  no  answer  but  shot  to 
offers  of  quarter,  and  it  was  not  till  nightfall  that  all  was  over. 
The  loss  of  the  victors  was  as  usual  inconsiderable.  The 
conquered  lost  six  thousand  men,  and  all  their  baggage  and 
artillery.     Leslie  was  among  the  prisoners  :  Hamilton  among  the 


1219 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


CHARLES    II.     AND    JANE    LANE    PASSING    THROUGH    A    TROOP    OF    ROUNDHEAD 

"  Konincklijcke  Beltenis,"  1661. 


dead.      Charles  himself  fled  from  the  field  ;  and  after  months  of 
wanderings  made  his  escape  to  France. 

"  Now  that  the  King  is  dead  and  his  son  defeated,"  Cromwell 
said  gravely  to  the  Parliament,  "  I  think  it  necessary  to  come  to  a 
settlement."  But  the  settlement  which  had  been  promised  after 
Naseby  was  still  as  distant  as  ever  after  Worcester.  The  bill  for 
dissolving  the  present  Parliament,  though  Cromwell  pressed  it  in 
person,  was  only  passed,  after  bitter  opposition,  by  a  majority  of 


The 
Dutch 

War 


Ji*' 

■y'*f.'"  *' '  _?■*';' :.  • 

■&? 

■   -  * 

. ' 

^i'~2m 

3    -' 

^^f^S^^^S 

r^< 

■  ?^*f* 

-:J^.| 

«?>:. 

"^s 

GREAT     SEAL     OF     COMMONWEALTH,    1651. 
By  the  great  medallist  Thomas  Simon. 


TREAT   SEAL    OF   COMMONWEALTH,    1651. 
GREA1    stAL  House   of  Commons. 

The  nation  represented  by  the  House 


1222 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


Activity 
of  the 

Parlia- 
ment 
1652 


two  ;  and  even  this  success  had  been  purchased  by  a  compromise 
which  permitted  the  House  to  sit  for  three  years  more.  Internal 
affairs  were  almost  at  a  dead  lock.  The  Parliament  appointed 
committees  to  prepare  plans  for  legal  reforms,  or  for  ecclesiastical 
reforms,   but    it   did   nothing  to   carry  them    into  effect.      It   was 

overpowered      by     the     crowd     of 
affairs   which  the  confusion  of   the 
war    had    thrown    into    its    hands, 
by  confiscations,  sequestrations,  ap- 
pointments   to    civil    and    military 
offices,    in    fact,   the    whole    admin- 
istration  of   the    state  ;    and    there 
were   times  when   it  was   driven  to 
a  resolve   not   to  take  any  private 
affairs   for  weeks  together  in  order 
that  it  might  make  some  progress 
with    public    business.      To  add  to 
this    confusion    and    muddle    there 
were  the  inevitable  scandals  which 
arose  from  it  ;    charges  of   malver- 
sation and   corruption  were   hurled 
at  the  members  of  the  House  ;   and 
some,   like   Haselrig,   were  accused 
with   justice    of   using   their  power 
to  further  their  own  interests.     The 
one    remedy    for   all    this   was,    as 
the   army    saw,  the   assembly  of  a 
new    and    complete    Parliament    in 
place     of    the    mere    "  rump  "     of 
the    old  ;    but    this    was    the    one 
measure  which  the  House  was  resolute  to  avert.     Vane  spurred  it 
to   a   new  activity.     The  Amnesty  Bill  was  forced  through   after 
fifteen  divisions.      A  Grand  Committee,  with  Sir  Matthew  Hale  at 
its  head,  was   appointed   to   consider   the   reform   of  the   law.     A 
union  with   Scotland  was  pushed  resolutely  forward  ;  eight   Eng- 
lish Commissioners  convoked  a  Convention  of  delegates  from  its 
counties    and    boroughs    at    Edinburgh,    and    in    spite    of  dogged 
opposition  procured  a  vote  in  favour  of  the  proposal.      A  bill  was 


LIGHT     HORSEMAN. 

Temp.    Oliver    Cromwell. 

Figure  in  collection  of  Captain  Orde 
Browne. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1223 


introduced  which  gave  legal  form  to  the  union,  and  admitted 
representatives  from  Scotland  into  the  next  Parliament.  A 
similar  plan  was  proposed  for  a  union  with  Ireland.  But  it  was 
necessary  for  Vane's  purposes  not  only  to  show  the  energy  of  the 
Parliament,  but  to  free  it  from  the  control  of  the  army.  His  aim 
was  to  raise  in  the  navy  a  force  devoted  to  the   House,  and   to 


Sec.  IX 

The 

Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


DUTCH    SHIPS    (SAILING    UNDER    SPANISH    COLOURS)    CAPTURED    IN     1652. 
Satirical  Print  in  British  Museum. 


Holland 


eclipse  the  glories  of  Dunbar  and  Worcester  by  yet  greater 
triumphs  at  sea.  With  this  view  the  quarrel  with  Holland  had  War  with 
been  carefully  nursed;  a  "Navigation  Act"  prohibiting  the 
importation  in  foreign  vessels  of  any  but  the  products  of  the 
countries  to  which  they  belonged  struck  a  fatal  blow  at  the 
carrying  trade  from  which  the  Dutch  drew  their  wealth  ;  and  fresh 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1225 


debates  arose  from  the  English  claim  to  salutes  from  all  vessels 
in  the  Channel.  The  two  fleets  met  before  Dover,  and  a  sum- 
mons from  Blake  to  lower  the  Dutch  flag  was  met  by  the  Dutch 
admiral,  Tromp,  with  a  broadside.  The  States-General  attributed 
the  collision  to  accident,  and  offered  to  recall  Tromp  ;  but  the 
English   demands  rose  at  each   step   in   the   negotiations   till  war 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


ADMIRAL     MARTIN     TROMP. 
Front  an  engraving-  by  Snide rhoef,  after  H.  Pott. 


warning 


became  inevitable.  The  army  hardly  needed  the 
conveyed  by  the  introduction  of  a  bill  for  its  disbanding  to 
understand  the  new  policy  of  the  Parliament.  It  was  significant 
that  while  accepting  the  bill  for  its  own  dissolution  the  House  had 
as  yet  prepared  no  plan  for  the  assembly  which  was  to  follow  it  ; 
and  the  Dutch  war  had  hardly  been  declared  when,  abandoning 


1226 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  ix  the  attitude  of  inaction  which  it  had  observed  since  the  beginning 

the  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  army  petitioned,  not  only  for  reform  in 

Common-  j    r  '   '  J 

wealth  Church  and  State,  but  for  an  explicit  declaration  that  the  House 
1649 

to  would  bring  its  proceedings  to  a  close.     The  Petition  forced  the 
1653 


ADMIRAL     DE    RUYTER. 
From  an  etching  by  A.  Blotelingh 


House  to  discuss  a  bill  for  "  a  New  Representative,"  but  the 
discussion  soon  brought  out  the  resolve  of  the  sitting  members  to 
continue  as  a  part  of  the  coming  Parliament  without  re-election. 
The  officers,  irritated  by  such  a  claim,  demanded  in  conference 
after   conference    an    immediate    dissolution,    and    the    House    as 


VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


1227 


resolutely  refused.  In  ominous  words  Cromwell  supported  the 
demand  of  the  army.  "  As  for  the  members  of  this  Parliament, 
the  army  begins  to  take  them  in  disgust.  I  would  it  did  so  with 
less  reason."  There  was  just  ground,  he  urged,  for  discontent  in 
their  selfish  greed  of  houses  and  lands,  the  scandalous  lives  of 
many,  their  partiality  as  judges,  their  interference  with  the 
ordinary  course  of  law  in  matters  of  private  interest,  their  delay  of 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


ADMIRAL    BLAKE. 
From  an  engraving  by  T.  Preston,  c.  1730,  0/  a  picture  then  in  the  possession  of  J.  Ames. 


law  reform,  above  all  in  their  manifest  design  of  perpetuating  their 

own   power.      "  There   is   little   to   hope   for   from    such    men,"   he 

ended  with  a  return  to  his  predominant  thought,  "  for  a  settlement 

of  the  nation." 

For  the  moment  the  crisis  was  averted  by  the  events  of  the       The 

war.      A  terrible  storm  had  separated  the  two  fleets  when  on  the    Ejectio: 

r  of  the 

point  of  engaging  in  the  Orkneys,  but  De  Ruyter  and  Blake  met      Rump 


1228 


HISTORY    OF  THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


Blake 


again  in  the  Channel,  and  after  a  fierce  struggle  the  Dutch  were 
forced  to  retire  under  cover  of  night.  Since  the  downfall  of  Spain 
Holland  had  been  the  first  naval  power  in  the  world,  and  the 
spirit  of  the  nation  rose  gallantly  with  its  earliest  defeat.  Im- 
mense efforts  were  made  to  strengthen  the  fleet,  and  the  veteran, 
Tromp,  who  was  replaced  at  its  head,  appeared  in  the  Channel 
with  seventy-three  ships  of  war.  Blake  had  but  half  the  number, 
but  he  at  once  accepted  the  challenge,  and  the  unequal  fight  went 
on  doggedly  till  nightfall,  when  the  English  fleet  withdrew  shat- 
tered into  the  Thames.     Tromp  swept  the   Channel   in  triumph, 


MEDAL    COMMEMORATING    BLAKE'S    VICTORIES. 


with  a  broom  at  his  masthead  ;  and  the  tone  of  the  Commons 
lowered  with  the  defeat  of  their  favourite  force.  A  compromise 
seems  to  have  been  arranged  between  the  two  parties,  for  the  bill 
providing  a  new  Representative  was  again  pushed  on,  and  the 
Parliament  agreed  to  retire  in  the  coming  November,  while 
Cromwell  offered  no  opposition  to  a  reduction  of  the  army.  But 
the  courage  of  the  House  rose  afresh  with  a  turn  of  fortune.  The 
strenuous  efforts  of  Blake  enabled  him  again  to  put  to  sea  in  a 
few  months  after  his  defeat,  and  a  running  fight  through  four  days 
ended  at  last  in  an  English  victory,  though  Tromp's  fine  seaman- 
ship enabled    him  to    save  the    convoy   he   was    guarding.     The 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1229 


House  at  once  insisted  on  the  retention  of  its  power.  Not  only 
were  the  existing  members  to  continue  as  members  of  the  new 
Parliament,  depriving  the  places  they  represented  of  their  right  of 
choosing  representatives,  but  they  were  to  constitute  a  Committee 
of  Revision,  to  determine  the  validity  of  each  election,  and  the 
fitness  of  the  members  returned.  A  conference  took  place  between 
the  leaders  of  the  Com- 
mons and  the  Officers 
of  the  Army,  who  re- 
solutely demanded  not 
only  the  omission  of 
these  clauses,  but  that 
the  Parliament  should 
at  once  dissolve  itself, 
and  commit  the  new 
elections  to  the  Coun- 
cil of  State.  "  Our 
charge,"  retorted  Hasel- 
rig,  "  cannot  be  trans- 
ferred to  any  one." 
The  conference  was 
adjourned  till  the  next 
morning,  on  an  under- 
standing that  no  de- 
cisive step  should  be 
taken  :  but  it  had 
no  sooner  re-assembled 
than      the     absence     of 


Jhel^iimj?  anddreaa?  of  the  Tioiife 
of  Com  .remaining  after*  t/ie  good 
members  rvirejeurgeD  out. 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 

Feb.   1653 


the      leading      members  satire  on  the  rump  parliament. 

r  1      1  ,  Front    Messrs.  Goldsvtid's  facsimile   of   Cavalier  playing- 

Confirmed    the  neWS  that  cards  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Nelson. 

Vane  was  fast  pressing 

the  bill  for  a  new  Representative  through  the  House.  "  It  is 
contrary  to  common  honesty,"  Cromwell  angrily  broke  out  :  and, 
quitting  Whitehall,  he  summoned  a  company  of  musketeers  to 
follow  him  as  far  as  the  door  of  the  Commons.  He  sate  down 
quietly  in  his  place,  "  clad  in  plain  grey  clothes  and  grey 
worsted  stockings,"  and  listened  to  Vane's  passionate  arguments.  April  20, 
"  I    am   come  to   do    what  grieves   me  to  the    heart,"   he  said   to        l653 


1230 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IX 

The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


his  neighbour,  St.  John  ;  but  he  still  remained  quiet,  till  Vane 
pressed  the  House  to  waive  its  usual  forms  and  pass  the  bill 
at  once.  "  The  time  has  come,"  he  said  to  Harrison.  "  Think 
well,"  replied  Harrison,  "  it  is  a  dangerous  work  !  "  and  Cromwell 
listened  for  another  quarter  of  an  hour.  At  the  question  "  that 
this  bill   do   pass,"   he  at  length  rose,  and   his  tone  grew   higher 


SIR    HARRY    VANE. 
Picture  by  Sir  Peter  Lely,  at  Raby  Castle. 


as  he  repeated  his  former  charges  of  injustice,  self-interest,  and 
delay.     "  Your  hour  is  come,"  he  ended,  "  the  Lord  hath  done  with 

The  Par-    you  !  "     A  crowd  of  members  started  to  their  feet  in  angry  protest. 

dtivenout  "Come,  come,"  replied  Cromwell,  "we  have  had  enough  of  this;" 
and  striding  into  the  midst  of  the  chamber,  he  clapt  his  hat  on  his 
head,  and  exclaimed,  "  I  will  put  an  end   to   your   prating  ! "     In 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1231 


The 
Common- 
wealth 

1649 

TO 
1653 


the  din  that  followed  his  voice  was  heard  in  broken  sentences —  Sec.  ix 
"  It  is  not  fit  that  you  should  sit  here  any  longer  !  You  should 
give  place  to  better  men  !  You  are  no  Parliament."  Thirty 
musketeers  entered  at  a  sign  from  their 
General,  and  the  fifty  members  pre- 
sent crowded  to  the  door.  "  Drunkard  !" 
Cromwell  broke  out  as  Wentworth  passed 
him  ;  and  Martin  was  taunted  with  a 
yet  coarser  name.  Vane,  fearless  to  the 
last,  told  him  his  act  was  "  against  all 
right  and  all  honour."  "  Ah,  Sir  Harry 
Vane,  Sir  Harry  Vane,"  Cromwell  re- 
torted in  bitter  indignation  at  the  trick 
he  had  been  played,  "  you  might  have 
prevented  all  this,  but  you  are  a  juggler, 
and  have  no  common  honesty  !  The 
Lord  deliver  me  from  Sir  Harry  Vane!" 
The  Speaker  refused  to  quit  his  seat, 
till  Harrison  offered  to  "  lend  him  a 
hand  to  come  down."  Cromwell  lifted 
the  mace  from  the  table.  "  What  shall 
we  do  with  this  bauble  ? "  he  said. 
*'  Take  it  away!"  The  door  of  the 
House  was  locked  at  last,  and  the  dis- 
persion of  the  Parliament  was  followed 
a  few  hours  after  by  that  of  its  ex- 
ecutive committee,  the  Council  of  State. 
Cromwell  himself  summoned  them  to 
withdraw.  "  We  have  heard,"  replied 
the  President,  John  Bradshaw,  "  what 
you  have  done  this  morning  at  the 
House,  and    in   some  hours  all  England 

will  hear  it.  But  you  mistake,  sir,  if  you  think  the  Parliament 
dissolved.  No  power  on  earth  can  dissolve  the  Parliament  but 
itself,  be  sure  of  that !  " 


OLD     SHAFT     OF     MACE     OF 
HOUSE    OF     COMMONS. 
Antiquary. 


H    5 

w    Si 


« 


*  -a 


.8 

'J  C 

z  •*, 

j  -^ 

a,  Q 

a  « 

-j  -a 

a  .« 

>  <o 


chap,  viii  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1233 


Sec.  X 

The 

Fall  op 

Puritanism 

Section  X.— The  Fall  of  Puritanism,   1653— 1660  I(J53 

1660 
{Authorities. — Many  of  the  works  mentioned  before  are  still  valuable,  but 
the  real  key  to  the  history  of  this  period  lies  in  Cromwell's  remarkable  series 
of  Speeches  (Carlyle,  "  Letters  and  Speeches,"  vol.  iii.).  Thurlow*s  State 
Papers  furnish  an  immense  mass  of  documents.  For  the  Second  Parliament 
of  the  Protector  we  have  Burton's  "  Diary."  For  the  Restoration,  M.  Guizot's 
"  Richard  Cromwell  and  the  Restoration,"  Ludlow's  "  Memoirs,"  Baxter's 
"  Autobiography,"  and  the  minute  and  accurate  account  given  by  Clarendon 
himself] 

The  dispersion  of  the  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  State  The 
left  England  without  a  government,  for  the  authority  of  every  conven- 
omcial  ended  with  that  of  the  body  from  which  his  power  was  tl0n 
derived.  Cromwell,  in  fact,  as  Captain-General  of  the  forces,  was 
forced  to  recognize  his  responsibility  for  the  maintenance  of  public 
order.  But  no  thought  of  military  despotism  can  be  fairly  traced 
in  the  acts  of  the  general  or  the  army.  They  were  in  fact  far  from 
regarding  their  position  as  a  revolutionary  one.  Though  incapable 
of  justification  on  any  formal  ground,  their  proceedings  since  the 
establishment  of  the  Commonwealth  had  as  yet  been  substantially 
in  vindication  of  the  rights  of  the  country  to  representation  and 
self-government  ;  and  public  opinion  had  gone  fairly  with  the  army 
in  its  demand  for  a  full  and  efficient  body  of  representatives,  as 
well  as  in  its  resistance  to  the  project  by  which  the  Rump  would 
have  deprived  half  England  of  its  right  of  election.  It  was  only 
when  no  other  means  existed  of  preventing  such  a  wrong  that  the 
soldiers  had  driven  out  the  wrongdoers.  "  It  is  you  that  have 
forced  me  to  this,"  Cromwell  exclaimed,  as  he  drove  the  members 
from  the  House  ;  "  I  have  sought  the  Lord  night  and  day  that  He 
would  rather  slay  me  than  put  me  upon  the  doing  of  this  work." 
The  act  was  one  of  violence  to  the  members  of  the  House,  but  the 
act  which  it  aimed  at  preventing  was  one  of  violence  on  their  part 
to  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  whole  nation.  The  people  had 
in  fact  been  "  dissatisfied  in  every  corner  of  the  realm  "  at  the  state 
of  public  affairs  :  and  the  expulsion  of  the  members  was  ratified  by 
a  general  assent.  "  We  did  not  hear  a  dog  bark  at  their  going," 
the  Protector  said  years  afterwards.      Whatever  anxiety  may  have 


i234  HISTORY  OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  x      been  felt  at  the  use  which  was  like  to  be  made  of  "  the  power  of 

the        the  sword,"  was  in  great  part  dispelled  by  a  proclamation  of  the 

Puritanism  officers.     Their  one  anxiety  was  "  not  to  grasp  the  power  ourselves 

to         nor   to  keep   it  in   military  hands,   no  not  for  a   day,"  and  their 
1660 

promise  to  "  call  to  the  government  men  of  approved  fidelity  and 

honesty  "  was  to  some  extent  redeemed  by  the  nomination  of  a 
provisional  Council  of  State,  consisting  of  eight  officers  of  high 
rank  and  four  civilians,  with  Cromwell  as  their  head,  and  a  seat  in 
which  was  offered,  though  fruitlessly,  to  Vane.  The  first  business 
of  such  a  body  was  clearly  to  summon  a  new  Parliament  and  to 
resign  its  trust  into  its  hands :  but  the  bill  for  Parliamentary 
reform  had  dropped  with  the  expulsion :  and  reluctant  as  the 
Council  was  to  summon  a  new  Parliament  on  the  old  basis  of 
election,  it  shrank  from  the  responsibility  of  effecting  so  funda- 
mental a  change  as  the  creation  of  a  new  basis  by  its  own  authority. 
It  was  this  difficulty  which  led  to  the  expedient  of  a  Constituent 
Convention.  Cromwell  told  the  story  of  this  unlucky  assembly 
some  years  after  with  an  amusing  frankness.  "  I  will  come  and 
tell  you  a  story  of  my  own  weakness  and  folly.  And  yet  it  was 
done  in  my  simplicity — I  dare  avow  it  was.  ...  It  was  thought 
then  that  men  of  our  own  judgment,  who  had  fought  in  the  wars, 
and  were  all  of  a  piece  on  that  account — why,  surely,  these  men 
will  hit  it,  and  these  men  will  do  it  to  the  purpose,  whatever  can  be 

_  desired  !      And  surely  we  did  think,  and  I  did  think  so — the  more 

The 

Barebones  blame   to    me!"      Of  the    hundred    and   fifty-six   men,   "faithful, 

Pa  YLX  ct — 

ment  fearing  God,  and  hating  covetousness,"  whose  names  were  selected 
July  1653  for  this  purpose  by  the  Council  of  State,  from  lists  furnished  by 
the  congregational  churches,  the  bulk  were  men,  like  Ashley 
Cooper,  of  good  blood  and  "  free  estates  ;  "  and  the  proportion  of 
burgesses,  such  as  the  leather-merchant,  Praise-God  Barebones, 
whose  name  was  eagerly  seized  on  as  a  nickname  for  the  body  to 
which  he  belonged,  seems  to  have  been  much  the  same  as  in  earlier 
Parliaments.  But  the  circumstances  of  their  choice  told  fatally  on 
the  temper  of  its  members.  Cromwell  himself,  in  the  burst  of 
rugged  eloquence  with  which  he  welcomed  their  assembling,  was 
carried  away  by  a  strange  enthusiasm.  "  Convince  the  nation,"  he 
said,  "  that  as  men  fearing  God  have  fought  them  out  of  their 
bondage  under  the  regal  power,  so  men  fearing  God  do  now  rule 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1235 


them  in  the  fear  of  God.  .  .  .  Own  your  call,  for  it  is  of  God  ;  Sec,  x 
indeed,  it  is  marvellous,  and  it  hath  been  unprojected.  .  .  .  Never  Fal"eof 
was  a  supreme  power  under  such  a  way  of  owning  God,  and  being  Pomtamsm 
owned  by  Him."  A  spirit  yet  more  enthusiastic  appeared  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Convention  itself.  The  resignation  of  their  — 
powers  by  Cromwell  and  the  Council  into  its  hands  left  it  the  one 
supreme  authority  ;  but  by  the  instrument  which  convoked  it 
provision  had  been  made  that  this  authority  should  be  transferred 
in  fifteen  months  to  another  assembly  elected  according  to  its 
directions.  Its  work  was,  in  fact,  to  be  that  of  a  constituent 
assembly,  paving  the  way  for  a  Parliament  on  a  really  national 
basis.  But  the  Convention  put  the  largest  construction  on  its 
commission,  and  boldly  undertook  the  whole  task  of  constitutional 
reform.  Committees  were  appointed  to  consider  the  needs  of  the 
Church  and  the  nation.  The  spirit  of  economy  and  honesty  which 
pervaded  the  assembly  appeared  in  its  redress  of  the  extravagance 
wrhich  prevailed  in  the  civil  service,  and  of  the  inequality  of  taxa- 
tion. With  a  remarkable  energy  it  undertook  a  host  of  reforms, 
for  whose '  execution  England  has  had  to  wait  to  our  own  day. 
The  Long  Parliament  had  shrunk  from  any  reform  of  the  Court  of 
Chancery,  where  twenty-three  thousand  cases  were  waiting  un- 
heard.     The    Convention    proposed    its  abolition.      The    work  of    The  work 

of  the 

compiling  a  single  code  of  laws,  begun  under  the  Long  Parliament  Conven- 
by  a  committee  with  Sir  Matthew  Hale  at  its  head,  was  again 
pushed  forward.  The  frenzied  alarm  which  these  bold  measures 
aroused  among  the  lawyer  class  was  soon  backed  by  that  of  the 
clergy,  who  saw  their  wealth  menaced  by  the  establishment  of  civil 
marriage,  and  by  proposals  to  substitute  the  free  contributions  of 
congregations  for  the  payment  of  tithes.  The  landed  proprietors 
too  rose  against  the  scheme  for  the  abolition  of  lay-patronage, 
which  was  favoured  by  the  Convention,  and  predicted  an  age  of 
confiscation.  The  "  Barebones  Parliament,"  as  the  assembly  was 
styled  in  derision,  was  charged  writh  a  design  to  ruin  property,  the 
Church,  and  the  law,  with  enmity  to  knowledge,  and  a  blind  and 
ignorant  fanaticism.  Cromwell  himself  shared  the  general  uneasi- 
ness at  its  proceedings.  His  mind  was  that  of  an  administrator, 
rather  than  that  of  a  statesman,  unspeculative,  deficient  in  fore- 
sight, conservative,  and  eminently  practical.      He  saw  the  need  of 


Hon 


1236 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  x      administrative  reform  in  Church  and  State  ;  but  he  had   no  sym- 

The        pathy  whatever  with  the  revolutionary  theories  which  were  filling 

Puritanism  t^e  ajr  aroUnd  him.     His  desire  was   for  "  a  settlement "  which 
1653 

TO 
I66O 


A    ROPER    AND    A    CORDWAINER. 
Comenius,   "  Orb is  sensnalium  pictus"  English  edition,   1659. 


should  be  accompanied  with  as  little  disturbance  of  the  old  state  of 
things  as  possible.  If  Monarchy  had  vanished  in  the  turmoil  of 
war,  his  experience  of  the  Long  Parliament  only  confirmed  him  in 


A    POTTER. 
Comenius,  "  Orbis  sensualiiun  pictus,"  English  edition,  1659. 


his   belief  of  the  need    of  establishing  an  executive  power  of  a 
similar  kind,  apart  from  the  power  of  the  legislature,  as  a  condition 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1237 


of  civil  liberty.  His  sword  had  won  "  liberty  of  conscience  ;"  but  Sec.  x 
passionately  as  he  clung  to  it,  he  was  still  for  an  established  Fa^eof 
Church,    for    a  parochial  system,    and   a  ministry  maintained    by  p™tanisii 

TO 
I66O 


A    TAILOR. 
Comenius,   "  Orbis  senstialiiiin  f>ict?ts,"  English  edition,   1659. 


tithes.  His  social  tendencies  were  simply  those  of  the  class  to 
which  he  belonged.  "  I  was  by  birth  a  gentleman,"  he  told  a  later 
Parliament,  and  in  the  old  social  arrangement  of  "  a  nobleman,  a 


A    SHOEMAKER. 
Comenius,  '''Orbis  sensualium  pictus,"  English  edition,  1659. 


gentleman,  a  yeoman,"  he  saw  "  a  good  interest  of  the  nation  and 
•a  great  one."      He  hated  "  that  levelling  principle"  which  tended 


Vol.  Ill— 20 


I238 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  X 

The 

Fall  of 

Puritanism 

1653 

TO 
I66O 


to  the  reducing  of  all  to  one  equality.  "  What  was  the  purport  of 
it,"  he  asks  with  an  amusing  simplicity,  "  but  to  make  the  tenant 
as  liberal  a  fortune  as  the  landlord  ?     Which,   I  think,  if  obtained, 


A    BLACKSMITH. 
Comenius,  " Orbis  sensualium  picttts,"  English  edition,  1659. 


would  not  have  lasted  long.  The  men  of  that  principle,  after  they 
had  served  their  own  turns,  would  then  have  cried  up  property  and 
interest  fast  enough." 


A    SPECTACLE-MAKER. 
Comenius,   "Orbis  sensualium  pictus,"  English  edition,   1659. 


The  New         To  a  practical  temper  such  as  this  the  speculative  reforms  of 
"  tion    "  the  Convention  were  as  distasteful  as  to  the  lawyers  and  clergy 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1239 


whom  they  attacked.  "  Nothing/'  said  Cromwell,  "  was  in  the 
hearts  of  these  men  but  '  overturn,  overturn/ "  But  he  was 
delivered  from  his  embarrassment  by  the  internal  dissensions  of  the 


Sec.  X 

The 

Fall  of 

Puritanism 

1653 

TO 
I66O 


PAPER-MAKERS. 
Comenius,  "  Orbis  sensualium  /ictus,"  English  edition,  1659. 


Assembly  itself.  The  day  after  the  decision  against  tithes  the  Close  of 
more  conservative  members  snatched  a  vote  by  surprise  "  that  the  vention 
sitting  of  this  Parliament  any  longer,  as  now  constituted,  will  not  Dec.  1653 


A     BOOKBINDER. 
Comenius,   "Orbis  sensualiutu  pictus,"  English  edition,   1659. 


be  for  the  good  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  that  it  is  requisite  to 
deliver    up    unto  the  Lord-General  the  powers  we  received  from 


1240 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


him."  The  Speaker  placed  their  abdication  in  Cromwell's  hands, 
and  the  act  was  confirmed  by  the  subsequent  adhesion  of  a 
Puritanism  majority  of  the  members.  The  dissolution  of  the  Convention  re- 
placed matters  in  the  state  in  which  its  assembly  had  found  them  ; 
but  there  was  still  the  same  general  anxiety  to  substitute  some  sort 
of  legal  rule  for  the  power  of  the  sword.  The  Convention  had 
named  during  its  session  a  fresh  Council  of  State,  and  this  body  at 
once  drew  up,  under  the  name  of  the  Instrument  of  Government,  a 


Sec.  X 

The 
Fall  of 


to 
l66o 


THE    EXCHANGE,    NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE. 

Built  1655— 1658. 

Brand,   "History  of  Newcastle." 

remarkable  Constitution,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Council  of 
The  In-  Officers.  They  were  driven  by  necessity  to  the  step  from  which 
strument   ^       ^ad    shrunk    before,  that  of  convening  a  Parliament  on  the 

of  Govern-  J  & 

ment  reformed  basis  of  representation,  though  such  a  basis  had  no  legal 
sanction.  The  House  was  to  consist  of  four  hundred  members 
from  England,  thirty  from  Scotland,  and  thirty  from  Ireland.  The 
seats  hitherto  assigned  to  small  and  rotten  boroughs  were 
transferred  to  larger  constituencies,  and  for  the  most  part  to 
counties.     All  special  rights  of  voting  in  the  election  of  members 


VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


1241 


were  abolished,  and  replaced  by  a  general  right  of  suffrage,  based 
on  the  possession  of  real  or  personal  property  to  the  value  of  two 
hundred  pounds.  Catholics  and  "  Malignants,"  as  those  who  had 
fought  for  the  King  were  called,  were  excluded  for  the  while  from 
the  franchise.  Constitutionally,  all  further  organization  of  the 
form  of  government  should  have  been  left  to  this  Assembly  ;  but 
the  dread  of  disorder  during  the  interval  of  its  election,  as  well  as  a 
longing  for  "  settlement,"  drove  the  Council  to  complete  their  work 
by  pressing  the  office  of  "  Protector  "  upon  Cromwell.     "  They  told 


Sec.  X 

The 
Fall  of 
'vritanism 

J653 
1660 


WHITE    HART    INN,    SCOLE,    NORFOLK. 

Built  1655. 

Richardson,  " Studies  from  Old  English  Mansions." 


me  that  except  I  would  undertake  the  government  they  thought 
things  would  hardly  come  to  a  composure  or  settlement,  but  blood 
and  confusion  would  break  in  as  before."  If  we  follow  however 
his  own  statement,  it  was  when  they  urged  that  the  acceptance  of 
such  a  Protectorate  actually  limited  his  power  as  Lord-General, 
and  "  bound  his  hands  to  act  nothing  without  the  consent  of  a 
Council  until  the  Parliament,"  that  the  post  was  accepted.  The 
powers  of  the  new  Protector  indeed  were  strictly  limited.  Though 
the  members  of  the  Council  were  originally  named  by  him,  each 


i242  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  x      member  was  irremovable  save  by  consent  of  the  rest  :  their  advice 
the        was    necessary    in    all  foreign  affairs,  their  consent  in  matters  of 

Fall  of  /to 

Puritanism  peace  and  war,  their  approval  in  nominations  to  the  great  offices  of 
to  state,  or  the  disposal  of  the  military  or  civil  power.  With  this 
body  too  lay  the  choice  of  all  future  Protectors.  To  the  admin- 
istrative check  of  the  Council  was  added  the  political  check  of  the 
Parliament.  Three  years  at  the  most  were  to  elapse  between  the 
assembling  of  one  Parliament  and  another.  Laws  could  not  be 
made,  nor  taxes  imposed  but  by  its  authority,  and  after  the  lapse 
of  twenty  days  the  statutes  it  passed  became  laws  even  if  the 
Protector's  assent  was  refused  to  them.  The  new  Constitution 
was  undoubtedly  popular  ;  and  the  promise  of  a  real  Parliament  in 
a  few  months  covered  the  want  of  any  legal  character  in  the  new 
rule.  The  Government  was  generally  accepted  as  a  provisional 
one,  which  could  only  acquire  legal  authority  from  the  ratification 
of  its  acts  in  the  coming  session  ;  and  the  desire  to  settle  it  on  such 
a  Parliamentary  basis  was  universal  among  the  members  of  the 
new  Assembly  which  met  in  the  autumn  at  Westminster. 
Parlia-  Few    Parliaments    have    ever    been  more  memorable,  or  more 

of  1654  truly  representative  of  the  English  people,  than  the  Parliament  of 
1654.  It  was  the  first  Parliament  in  our  history  where  members 
from  Scotland  and  Ireland  sate  side  by  side  with  those  from 
England,  as  they  sit  in  the  Parliament  of  to-day.  The  members 
for  rotten  boroughs  and  pocket-boroughs  had  disappeared.  In 
spite  of  the  exclusion  of  royalists  and  Catholics  from  the  polling- 
booths,  and  the  arbitrary  erasure  of  the  names  of  a  few  ultra- 
republican  members  by  the  Council,  the  House  had  a  better  title  to 
the  name  of  a  "  free  Parliament"  than  any  which  had  sat  before. 
The  freedom  with  which  the  electors  had  exercized  their  right  of 
voting  was  seen  indeed  in  the  large  number  of  Presbyterian 
members  who  were  returned,  and  in  the  reappearance  of  Haselrig 
and  Bradshaw,  with  many  members  of  the  Long  Parliament,  side 
by  side  with  Lord  Herbert  and  the  older  Sir  Harry  Vane.  The 
first  business  of  the  House  was  clearly  to  consider  the  question  of 
government  ;  and  Haselrig,  with  the  fiercer  republicans,  at  once 
denied  the  legal  existence  of  either  Council  or  Protector,  on  the 
ground  that  the  Long  Parliament  had  never  been  dissolved.  Such 
an    argument,    however,   told    as  much  against  the  Parliament  in 


viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1243 


Puritanism 

1653 

TO 
I66O 


which  they  sate  as  against  the  administration  itself,  and  the  bulk  Sec,  x 
of  the  Assembly  contented  themselves  with  declining  to  recognize  F^"EOF 
the  Constitution  or  Protectorate  as  of  more  than  provisional  validity. 
They  proceeded  at  once  to  settle  the  government  on  a  Parliament- 
ary basis.  The  "  Instrument "  was  taken  as  the  groundwork  of  the 
new  Constitution,  and  carried  clause  by  clause.  That  Cromwell 
should  retain  his  rule  as  Protector  was  unanimously  agreed  ;  that 
he  should  possess  the  right  of  veto  or  a  co-ordinate  legislative 
power  with  the  Parliament  was  hotly  debated,  though  the  violent 
language  of  Haselrig  did  little  to  disturb  the  general  tone  of 
moderation.  Suddenly,  however,  Cromwell  interposed.  If  he  had 
undertaken  the  duties  of  Protector  with  reluctance,  he  looked  on  all 
legal  defects  in  his  title  as  more  than  supplied  by  the  consent  of 
the  nation.  *  I  called  not  myself  to  this  place,"  he  urged,  "  God 
and  the  people  of  these  kingdoms  have  borne  testimony  to  it."  His 
rule  had  been  accepted  by  London,  by  the  army,  by  the  solemn 
decision  of  the  judges,  by  addresses  from  every  shire,  by  the  very 
appearance  of  the  members  of  the  Parliament  in  answer  to  his 
writ.  "  Why  may  I  not  balance  this  Providence,"  he  asked,  "  with 
any  hereditary  interest  ?  "  In  this  national  approval  he  saw  a  call 
from  God,  a  Divine  Right  of  a  higher  order  than  that  of  the  kings 
who  had  gone  before. 

But  there  was  another  ground  for  the  anxiety  with  which  he  Crom- 
watched  the  proceedings  of  the  Commons.  His  passion  for  admin-  Adminis- 
istration  had  far  overstepped  the  bounds  of  a  merely  provisional  tratlon 
rule  in  the  interval  before  the  assembling  of  the  Parliament.  His 
desire  for  "  settlement  "  had  been  strengthened  not  only  by  the 
drift  of  public  opinion,  but  by  the  urgent  need  of  every  day  ;  and 
the  power  reserved  by  the  "Instrument"  to  issue  temporary 
ordinances,  "  until  further  order  in  such  matters,  to  be  taken  by 
the  Parliament,"  gave  a  scope  to  his  marvellous  activity  of  which  he 
at  once  took  advantage.  Sixty-four  Ordinances  had  been  issued 
in  the  nine  months  before  the  meeting  of  the  Parliament.  Peace 
had  been  concluded  with  Holland.  The  Church  had  been  set  in 
order.  The  law  itself  had  been  minutely  regulated.  The  union 
with  Scotland  had  been  brought  to  completion.  So  far  was 
Cromwell  from  dreaming  that  these  measures,  or  the  authority 
which    enacted    them,    would    be    questioned,    that    he    looked    to 


chap,  viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1245 


Parliament  simply  to  complete  his  work.     "  The  great  end  of  your      Sec.  x 

meeting,"  he  said  at  the  first  assembly  of  its  members,  "  is  healing        The 
&'  7  *&     Fall  of 

and    settling."     Though    he    had    himself   done    much,   he   added,   Puritanism 

1653 
"  there  was  still  much  to  be  done."     Peace  had  to  be  made  with         to 

Portugal,  and  alliance  with  Spain.  Bills  were  laid  before  the  — 
House  for  the  codification  of  the  law.  The  plantation  and  settle- 
ment of  Ireland  had  still  to  be  completed.  He  resented  the  setting 
these  projects  aside  for  constitutional  questions  which,  as  he  held, 
a  Divine  call  had  decided,  but  he  resented  yet  more  the  renewed 
claim  advanced  by  Parliament  to  the  sole  power  of  legislation. 
As  we  have  seen,  his  experience  of  the  evils  which  had  arisen  from 
the  concentration  of  legislative  and  executive  power  in  the  Long 
Parliament  had  convinced  Cromwell  of  the  danger  to  public  liberty 
which  lay  in  such  a  union.  He  saw  in  the  joint  government  of 
"  a  single  person  and  a  Parliament "  the  only  assurance  "  that 
Parliaments  should  not  make  themselves  perpetual,"  or  that  their 
power  should  not  be  perverted  to  public  wrong.  But  whatever 
strength  there  may  have  been  in  the  Protector's  arguments,  the  act 
by  which  he  proceeded  to  enforce  them  was  fatal  to  liberty,  and  in 
the  end  to  Puritanism.  "  If  my  calling  be  from  God,"  he  ended, 
"  and  my  testimony  from  the  People,  God  and  the  People  shall 
take  it  from  me,  else  I  will  not  part  from  it."  And  he  announced  Dissolu- 
that    no    member    would  be  suffered  to  enter  the  House  without  tl0J}  °fthe 

Farlia- 

signing  an  engagement  "  not  to  alter  the  Government  as  it  is  ment 
settled  in  a  single  person  and  a  Parliament."  No  act  of  the 
Stuarts  had  been  a  bolder  defiance  of  constitutional  law  ;  and  the 
act  was  as  needless  as  it  was  illegal.  One  hundred  members  alone 
refused  to  take  the  engagement,  and  the  signatures  of  three-fourths 
of  the  House  proved  that  the  security  Cromwell  desired  might 
have  been  easily  procured  by  a  vote  of  Parliament.  But  those  who 
remained  resumed  their  constitutional  task  with  unbroken  firmness. 
They  quietly  asserted  their  sole  title  to  government  by  referring 
the  Protector's  Ordinances  to  Committees  for  revision,  and  for 
conversion  into  laws.  The  "  Instrument  of  Government "  was 
turned  into  a  bill,  debated,  and  after  some  modifications  read  a 
third  time.  Money  votes,  as  in  previous  Parliaments,  were  deferred 
till  "  grievances "  had  been  settled.  But  Cromwell  once  more 
intervened.     The    royalists    were    astir    again  ;    and   he   attributed 


1246 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


sec.  x      their  renewed  hopes  to  the  hostile  attitude  which  he  ascribed  to 

t^e       the    Parliament.      The    army,  which   remained    unpaid    while    the 

Puritanism  SUpPlies  were  delayed,  was  seething  with  discontent.     "  It  looks," 
1653 

TO 
I66O 


SECOND    GREAT    SEAL    OF    PROTECTOR    OLIVER,     1655  — 1658. 

said  the  Protector,  "  as  if  the  laying  grounds  for  a  quarrel  had 
rather  been  designed  than  to  give  the  people  settlement.  Judge 
yourselves  whether  the  contesting  of  things  that  were  provided  for 
by  this  government  hath  been  profitable  expense  of  time  for  the 


-'-*>'*- 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1247 


good  of  this  nation."     In  words  of  angry  reproach  he  declared  the       Sec,  x 
Parliament  dissolved.  faT"Eof 

With  the  dissolution  of  the  Parliament  of  1654  ended  all  show  P*«™ns« 

TO 
I66O 


Jan.  1655 


SECOND    GREAT    SEAL    OF    PROTECTOR    OLIVER,     1655  — 1658. 


of  constitutional  rule.     The  Protectorate,  deprived  by  its  own  act  The  New 

1  J  Tyranny 

of  all  chance  of  legal  sanction,  became  a  simple  tyranny.  Crom- 
well professed,  indeed,  to  be  restrained  by  the  "  Instrument  "  ;  but 
the  one  great  restraint  on  his  power  which  the  Instrument  provided, 


i243  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  x      the    inability  to   levy  taxes  save  by  consent  of   Parliament,  was 
f  l"Eof     set  as^e  on  tne  P*ea  °f   necessity.     "  The  People,"  said  the  Pro- 

Puritanism  tector  in  words  which  Strafford  might  have  uttered,  "will  prefer 
1653  .  .  , 

to  their  real  security  to  forms."     That   a   danger   of    royalist   revolt 
1660  J  &  y 

existed  was  undeniable,  but  the  danger  was  at  once  doubled  by 
the  general  discontent.  From  this  moment,  Whitelock  tells  us, 
"  many  sober  and  noble  patriots,"  in  despair  of  public  liberty, 
"  did  begin  to  incline  to  the  King's  restoration."  In  the  mass 
of  the  population  the  reaction  was  far  more  rapid.  "  Charles 
Stuart,"  writes  a  Cheshire  correspondent  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  "  hath  five  hundred  friends  in  these  adjacent  counties  for 
every  one  friend  to  you  among  them."  But  before  the  over- 
powering strength  of  the  army  even  this  general  discontent  was 
powerless.  Yorkshire,  where  the  royalist  insurrection  was  expected 
to  be  most  formidable,  never  ventured  to  rise  at  all.  There  were 
risings  in  Devon,  Dorset,  and  the  Welsh  Marches,  but  they  were 
quickly  put  down,  and  their  leaders  brought  to  the  scaffold. 
Easily  however  as  the  revolt  was  suppressed,  the  terror  of  the 
Government  was  seen  in  the  energetic  measures  to  which  Cromwell 
The        resorted  in  the  hope  of  securing  order.     The  country  was  divided 

Major-       .  ...  1  •  1  •  1 

Generals  into  ten  military  governments,  each  with  a  major-general  at  its 
head,  who  was  empowered  to  disarm  all  Papists  and  royalists, 
and  to  arrest  suspected  persons.  Funds  for  the  supports  of  this, 
military  despotism  were  provided  by  an  Ordinance  of  the  Council 
of  State,  which  enacted  that  all  who  had  at  any  time  borne  arms 
for  the  King  should  pay  every  year  a  tenth  part  of  their  income,  in 
spite  of  the  Act  of  Oblivion,  as  a  fine  for  their  royalist  tendencies. 
The  despotism  of  the  major-generals  was  seconded  by  the  older 
expedients  of  tyranny.  The  ejected  clergy  had  been  zealous 
in  promoting  the  insurrection,  and  they  were  forbidden  in  revenge 
to  act  as  chaplains  or  as  tutors.  The  press  was  placed  under 
a  strict  censorship.  The  payment  of  taxes  levied  by  the  sole 
authority  of  the  Protector  was  enforced  by  distraint  ;  and  when 
a  collector  was  sued  in  the  courts  for  redress,  the  counsel  for  the 
prosecution  were  sent  to  the  Tower. 
Scotland  If    pardon,    indeed,    could    ever    be    won    for    a    tyranny,    the 

Ireland    wisdom   and   grandeur   with    which    he    used    the    power    he    had 
usurped    would    win     pardon     for    the    Protector.      The    greatest 


VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


1249 


among    the    man)'    great    enterprises    undertaken    by    the    Long       Sec.  x 
Parliament   had    been   the   Union    of    the    three   Kingdoms  :    and        The 

Fall  of 

that    of    Scotland    with    England    had    been    brought    about,    at   P:R1TANISJI 

.  1653 

the    very    end    of    its    career,    by    the    tact    and    vigour    of    Sir 


Harry  Vane.  But  its  practical  realization  was  left  to  Crom- 
well. In  four  months  of  hard  fighting  General  Monk  brought 
the  Highlands  to  a 
new  tranquillity ;  and 
the  presence  of  an 
army  of  eight  thou- 
sand men,  backed  by 
a  line  of  forts,  kept 
the  most  restless  of 
the  clans  in  good 
order.  The  settlement 
of  the  country  was 
brought  about  by  the 
temperance  and  sa- 
gacity of  Monk's  suc- 
cessor, General  Deane. 
No  further  interfer- 
ence with  the  Presby- 
terian system  was  at- 
tempted beyond  the 
suppression  of  the 
General  Assembly. 
But  religious  liberty 
was  resolutely  protect- 
ed, and  Deane  ven- 
tured even  to  interfere 
on  behalf  of  the  miser- 
able victims  whom 
Scotch      bigotry      was 

torturing  and  burning  on  the  charge  of  witchcraft.  Even  steady 
royalists  acknowledged  the  justice  of  the  Government  and  the 
wonderful  discipline  of  its  troops.  "  We  always  reckon  those 
eight  years  of  the  usurpation,"  said  Burnet  afterwards,  "  a  time  of 
great  peace  and  prosperity."     Sterner  work  had  to  be  done  before 


*A*yy  h  a  m  uchle  S  co  ich  TQmut 

in  gude  faith  Su : 


SATIRE    ON     SCOTCH     PRESBYTERIAN.-. 

From   Messrs.    Goldsmid ' s  facsimile   of  Cavalier  playing 
cards  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Selson. 


TO 

1660 


Q 
W 

W 

Oh 
X 
W 

P? 

o 
< 

2* 


O    * 


CHAP.   VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


i2;i 


Ireland  could  be  brought  into  real  union  with  its  sister  kingdoms. 
The   work   of  conquest   had   been   continued   by   Ireton,  and  com- 


Sec.  X 


The 
Fall  of 

pleted  after  his  death  by  General  Ludlow,  as  mercilessly  as  it  had  Puritanism 

1653 

TO 
I66O 


IRISHMAN     AND     WOMAN. 
Hollar  s    Map    of  Ireland,     1653. 


begun.  Thousands  perished  by  famine  or  the  sword.  Shipload  Settie- 
after  shipload  of  those  who  surrendered  were  sent  over  sea  for  Ireland 
sale  into  forced  labour  in  Jamaica   and   the   West   Indies.     More 


<^^^ 


AN    IRISH    MILKMAID. 

T.  Dineley,   "Tour  through  Ireland,"  1681. 

Journal  of  Kilkenny  Archaeological  Society,  now  Royal  Society  of  Antiquaries  of  Ireland. 


than    forty  thousand  of  the   beaten   Catholics  were  permitted   to 
enlist  for  foreign  service,  and   found   a  refuge   in   exile  under  the 


*Oo  cuifieAffA  ah  bfiACAip  tThcet  O  CleifAi§  peAiiiArn  ah 
rf  en-cj\oinic  txvpAb  Aimri  t^eAbAji  JJAbAtA  "oo  ^lAriAt),  "oo  ceA]\- 
cu^At)  ocup  *oo  -pcpobAt)  (AtnAiVle  le  uoit  rh'tlACCAjiAin)  "oo 
cum  50  pAchA-o  1  n^toip  *oo  *OhiA,  in  6noi|\  *ootia  riAomliAib, 

BEGINNING    OF     DEDICATION     OF     ANNALS     OF     THE     FOUR     MASTERS,    1634 


SIGNATURE     OF     MICHAEL     OCLEKY,    1634. 

$&mv  <yi<ymi£  tut  $car-*6ros& 

HANDWRITING    OF    DUALD    MAC     FIRBIS,    1650 

FACSIMILES     OF    IRISH     MSS.,    A.  D.     1634— 1650. 


chap,  vin  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1253 

banners  of   France   and   Spain.     The  work  of    settlement,  which      Sec,  x 
was  undertaken  by  Henry  Cromwell,  the  younger  and  abler  of  the        The 

J  J  &  Fall  of 

Protector's    sons,   turned    out    to  be  even   more  terrible  than   the   Plrita- 

i653 

work    of  the    sword.      It   took   as  its    model   the   Colonization    of 

1660 

Ulster,  the  fatal  measure  which  had  destroyed  all  hope  of  a  united 

Ireland  and  had  brought  inevitably  in  its  train  the  revolt  and  the 
war.     The  people  were  divided  into  classes  in  the  order  of  their 
assumed    guilt.      All    who    after    fair    trial   were   proved    to    have 
personally  taken   part  in  the  massacre  were  sentenced  to  banish- 
ment or  death.     The  general  amnesty  which  freed  "  those  of  the 
meaner  sort "   from   all    question    on    other    scores    was    far  from 
extending    to    the    landowners.       Catholic    proprietors    who    had 
shown  no  goodwill  to  the  Parliament,  even  though  they  had  taken 
no  part  in  the  war,  were  punished  by  the  forfeiture  of  a  third  of 
their  estates.     All  who  had  borne  arms  were  held  to  have  forfeited 
the  whole,  and  driven    into   Connaught,  where   fresh   estates   were 
carved  out  for  them  from  the  lands  of  the  native  clans.     Xo  such 
doom  had  ever  fallen  on  a  nation   in    modern   times   as   fell   upon 
Ireland  in  its  new  settlement.     Among  the  bitter  memories  which 
part    Ireland    from    England   the   memory   of  the   bloodshed   and 
confiscation   which    the    Puritans  wrought    remains   the   bitterest  ; 
and  the  worst  curse  an    Irish  peasant  can   hurl   at   his   enemy  is 
"  the  curse  of  Cromwell."     But   pitiless   as   the    Protector's   policy 
was,  it  was  successful  in  the  ends  at  which  it  aimed.     The  whole 
native  population  lay  helpless  and  crushed.      Peace  and  order  were 
restored,  and  a  large  incoming  of  Protestant  settlers  from  England 
and    Scotland  brought  a  new  prosperity  to   the   wasted   country. 
Above  all,  the   legislative   union  which  had   been   brought    about 
with  Scotland  was  now  carried  out  with   Ireland,  and  thirty  seats 
were  allotted  to  its  representatives  in  the  general  Parliament. 

In  England  Cromwell  dealt  with  the  rovalists  as   irreconcilable    England 

.  .'  .  .  and  the 

enemies  ;  but  in  even*  other  respect  he  carried  fairly  out  his  pledge     Protec- 

of  ':  healing  and  settling."     The  series   of   administrative  reforms 

planned   by  the  Convention  had  been  partially  carried  into  effect 

before   the   meeting   of    Parliament   in    1654;    but   the   work   was 

pushed    on   after  the  dissolution   of  the    House   with   yet   greater 

energy.     Nearly    a    hundred    ordinances    showed    the   industry   of 

the  Government.      Police,  public  amusements,  roads,  finances,   the 
Vol.  Ill — 21 


torate 


1254 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  x      condition  of   prisons,  the  imprisonment    of    debtors,   were  a  few 
the        among;   the    subjects    which    claimed    Cromwell's    attention.      An 

Fall  of  _     &  J 

Puritanism  ordinance    of    more    than    fifty    clauses    reformed    the    Court    of 
Chancery.     The  anarchy  which  had  reigned  in  the  Church  since 


TO 
I66O 


Crom- 
well and 
Europe 


the  break-down  of  Episcopacy  and  the  failure  of  the  Presbyterian 
system  to  supply  its  place,  was  put  an  end  to  by  a  series  of  wise 
and  temperate  measures  for  its  reorganization.  Rights  of  patron- 
age were  left  untouched  ;  but  a  Board  of  Triers,  a  fourth  of  whom 
were  laymen,  was  appointed  to  examine  the  fitness  of  ministers 
presented  to  livings  ;  and  a  Church  board  of  gentry  and  clergy 
was  set  up  in  every  county  to  exercise  a  supervision  over  ecclesi- 
astical affairs,  and  to  detect  and  remove  scandalous  and  ineffectual 
ministers.  Even  by  the  confession  of  Cromwell's  opponents  the 
plan  worked  well.  It  furnished  the  country  with  "  able,  serious 
preachers,"  Baxter  tells  us,  "  who  lived  a  godly  life,  of  what  tolerable 
opinion  soever  they  were,"  and,  as  both  Presbyterian  and  Inde- 
pendent ministers  were  presented  to  livings  at  the  will  of  their 
patrons,  it  solved  so  far  as  practical  working  was  concerned  the 
problem  of  a  religious  union  among  the  Puritans  on  the  base 
of  a  wide  variety  of  Christian  opinion.  From  the  Church  which 
was  thus  reorganized  all  power  of  interference  with  faiths  differing 
from  its  own  was  resolutely  withheld.  Save  in  his  dealings  with  the 
Episcopalians,  whom  he  looked  on  as  a  political  danger,  Cromwell 
remained  true  throughout  to  the  cause  of  religious  liberty.  Even 
the  Quaker,  rejected  by  all  other  Christian  bodies  as  an  anarchist 
and  blasphemer,  found  sympathy  and  protection  in  the  Protector. 
The  Jews  had  been  excluded  from  England  since  the  reign  of 
Edward  the  First  ;  and  a  prayer  which  they  now  presented  for 
leave  to  return  was  refused  by  the  commission  of  merchants  and 
divines  to  whom  the  Protector  referred  it  for  consideration.  But 
the  refusal  was  quietly  passed  over,  and  the  connivance  of  Crom- 
well in  the  settlement  of  a  few  Hebrews  in  London  and  Oxford 
was  so  clearly  understood  that  no  one  ventured  to  interfere  with 
them. 

No  part  of  his  policy  is  more  characteristic  of  Cromwell's  mind, 
whether  in  its  strength  or  in  its  weakness,  than  his  management  of 
foreign  affairs.  While  England  had  been  absorbed  in  her  long  and 
obstinate  struggle  for  freedom  the  whole  face  of  the  world  around 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1255 


her  had  changed.     The  Thirty  Years'  War  was  over.     The   vie-       sec  x 
tories  of  Gustavus,  and  of  the  Swedish  generals  who  followed  him,        the 

"  Fall  of 

Puritanism 

1653 

TO 
I66O 


RICHELIEU. 
Picture  by  P.  de  Champaigne,  in  the  National  Gallery. 


had  been  seconded  by  the  policy  of  Richelieu  and  the  intervention 
of  France.  Protestantism  in  Germany  was  no  longer  in  peril  from 
the  bigotry  or  ambition  of  the  House  of  Austria  ;  and  the  Treaty 


chap,  vni  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1257 

of  Westphalia  had  drawn  a  permanent  line  between  the  territories       Sec.  x 

belonging  to  the  adherents  of  the  old  religion  and  the  new.     There      Fa^"eof 

was* little  danger,  indeed,  now  to   Europe  from   the  great  Catholic   ********** 

House   which  had   threatened  its  freedom   ever  since  Charles  the         to 

1660 

Fifth.  Its  Austrian  branch  was  called  away  from  dreams  of  - — 
aggression  in  the  west  to  a  desperate  struggle  with  the  Turk  for 
the  possession  of  Hungary  and  the  security  of  Austria  itself. 
Spain  was  falling  into  a  state  of  strange  decrepitude.  So  far  from 
aiming  to  be  mistress  of  Europe,  she  was  rapidly  sinking  into  the 
almost  helpless  prey  of  France.  It  was  France  which  had  now 
become  the  dominant  power  in  Christendom,  though  her  position 
was  far  from  being  as  commanding  as  it  was  to  become  under 
Lewis  the  Fourteenth.  The  peace  and  order  which  prevailed  after 
the  cessation  of  the  religious  troubles  throughout  her  compact  and 
fertile  territory  gave  scope  at  last  to  the  quick  and  industrious 
temper  of  the  French  people  ;  while  her  wealth  and  energy  were 
placed  by  the  centralizing  administration  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  of 
Richelieu,  and  of  Mazarin,  almost  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  the 
Crown.  Under  the  three  great  rulers  who  have  just  been  named 
her  ambition  was  steadily  directed  to  the  same  purpose  of  terri- 
torial aggrandizement,  and  though  limited  as  yet  to  the  annexation  Crom- 
of  the  Spanish  and  Imperial  territories  which  still  parted  her  foreign 
frontier  from  the  Pyrenees,  the  Alps,  and  the  Rhine,  a  statesman  policy 
of  wise  political  genius  would  have  discerned  the  beginning  of  that 
great  struggle  for  supremacy  over  Europe  at  large  which  was  only 
foiled  J}y  the  genius  of  Marlborough  and  the  victories  of  the  Grand 
Alliance.  But  in  his  view  of  European  politics  Cromwell  was 
misled  by  the  conservative  and  unspeculative  temper  of  his  mind 
as  well  as  by  the  strength  of  his  religious  enthusiasm.  Of  the 
change  in  the  world  around  him  he  seems  to  have  discerned  no- 
thing. He  brought  to  the  Europe  of  Mazarin  the  hopes  and  ideas 
with  which  all  England  was  thrilling  in  his  youth  at  the  outbreak 
of  the  Thirty  Years'  War.  Spain  was  still  to  him  ''the  head  of 
the  Papal  Interest,"  whether  at  home  or  abroad.  "  The  Papists  in 
England,"  he  said  to  the  Parliament  of  1656,  "have  been  ac- 
counted, ever  since  I  was  born,  Spaniolized  ;  they  never  regarded 
France,  or  any  other  Papist  state,  but  Spain  only."  The  old 
English  hatred  of  Spain,  the  old  English  resentment  at  the  shame- 


v!> 


* 


9 


<o 


h  .« 

Hi 


chap,  vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1259 

ful  part   which   the  nation   had   been   forced   to   play  in   the   great      Sec.  x 

German  struggle  by  the  policy  of  James  and  of  Charles,  lived  on        the 

in   Cromwell,  and   was  only  strengthened  by  the  religious  enthu-  Puritanism 

siasm   which  the  success   of   Puritanism  had   kindled  within   him.         to 

1660 
"  The   Lord   Himself,"  he  wrote  to  his   admirals  as   they  sailed  to        — 

the  West  Indies,  "hath  a  controversy  with  your  enemies:  even 
with  that  Romish  Babylon  of  which  the  Spaniard  is  the  great 
underpropper.  In  that  respect  we  fight  the  Lord's  battles."  What 
Sweden  had  been  under  Gustavus,  England,  Cromwell  dreamt, 
might  be  now — the  head  of  a  great  Protestant  League  in  the  strug- 
gle against  Catholic  aggression.  "  You  have  on  your  shoulders," 
he  said  to  the  Parliament  of  1654,  "the  interest  of  all  the  Christian 
people  of  the  world.  I  wish  it  may  be  written  on  our  hearts  to  be 
zealous  for  that  interest." 

The  first  step  in  such  a  struggle  was  necessarily  to  league  the   War  with 

-f  Spain 

Protestant  powers  together,  and   Cromwell's   earliest   efforts   were 

directed  to  bring  the  ruinous  and  indecisive  quarrel  with  Holland 
to  an  end.     The  fierceness  of  the   strife  had  grown   with  each  en- 
gagement ;  but  the  hopes  of  Holland  fell  with  her  admiral,  Tromp, 
who  received  a  mortal  wound   at  the   moment  when  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  forcing  the  English  line  ;  and  the  skill  and  energy  of  his 
successor,   De   Ruyter,   struggled   in    vain  to    restore    her  waning 
fortunes.     She  was  saved   by  the  expulsion  of  the   Long   Parlia- 
ment, which  had  persisted  in  its  demand  of  a  political  union  of  the 
two  countries  ;   and  the  new  policy  of  Cromwell  was  seen  in   the 
conclusion  of  peace.     The  United  Provinces  recognized  the  supre-       1654 
macy  of  the  English  flag  in  the  British  seas,  and  submitted  to  the 
Navigation    Act,  while    Holland    pledged    itself   to    shut   out  the 
House  of  Orange  from  power,  and  thus  relieved  England  from  the 
risk  of  seeing  a  Stuart  restoration  supported  by  Dutch  forces.     The 
peace  with  the    Dutch    was  followed   by   the   conclusion    of    like 
treaties  with  Sweden  and  with  Denmark  ;  and  on  the  arrival  of  a 
Swedish   envoy   with  offers   of  a  league   of   friendship,    Cromwell 
endeavoured  to   bring    the    Dutch,   the    Brandenburgers,  and   the 
Danes  into  a  confederation  of  the  Protestant  powers.     His  efforts 
in   this   direction   however,   though   they   never   wholly  ceased,  re- 
mained fruitless  ;  but  the  Protector  was  resolute  to  carry  out  his 
plans  single-handed.     The  defeat  of  the  Dutch  had   left   England 


chap,  viii  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1261 

the  chief  sea-power  of  the  world  ;  and  before  the  dissolution  of  the       Sec.  x 
Parliament,   two  fleets   put  to   sea  with   secret   instructions.     The     „  The 

1  Fall  of 

first,  under  Blake,  appeared  in  the  Mediterranean,  exacted  repara-  Pumtanism 
tion  from  Tuscany  for  wrongs  done  to  English  commerce,  bom- 
barded Algiers,  and  destroyed  the  fleet  with  which  its  pirates  — 
had  ventured  through  the  reign  of  Charles  to  insult  the  English 
coast.  The  thunder  of  Blake's  guns,  every  Puritan  believed,  would 
be  heard  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  and  Rome  itself  would  have 
to  bow  to  the  greatness  of  Cromwell.  But  though  no  declaration 
of  war  had  been  issued  against  Spain,  the  true  aim  of  both 
expeditions  was  an  attack  on  that  power  ;  and  the  attack  proved 
singularly  unsuccessful.  Though  Blake  sailed  to  the  Spanish 
coast,  he  failed  to  intercept  the  treasure  fleet  from  America  ;  and 
the  second  expedition,  which  made  its  way  to  the  West  Indies, 
was  foiled  in  a  descent  on  St.  Domingo.  Its  conquest  of  Jamaica, 
important  as  it  really  was  in  breaking  through  the  monopoly 
of  the  New  World  in  the  South  which  Spain  had  till  now  enjoyed, 
seemed  at  the  time  but  a  poor  result  for  a  vast  expenditure  of 
blood  and  money.  Its  leaders  were  sent  to  the  Tower  on  Sept.  1655 
their  return ;  but  Cromwell  found  himself  at  war  with  Spain, 
and  thrown  whether  he  would  or  no  into  the  hands  of  the  French 
minister  Mazarin. 

He  was  forced  to  sign  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  France  ;  while  Parlia- 
the  cost  of  his  abortive  expeditions  drove  him  again  to  face  a  0f  l555 
Parliament.  But  Cromwell  no  longer  trusted,  as  in  his  earlier 
Parliament,  to  freedom  of  elections.  The  sixty  members  sent  from 
Ireland  and  Scotland  under  the  Ordinances  of  union  were  simply 
nominees  of  the  Government.  Its  whole  influence  was  exerted  to 
secure  the  return  of  the  more  conspicuous  members  of  the  Council 
of  State.  It  was  calculated  that  of  the  members  returned  one-half 
were  bound  to  the  Government  by  ties  of  profit  or  place.  But 
Cromwell  was  still  unsatisfied.  A  certificate  of  the  Council  was 
required  from  each  member  before  admission  to  the  House  ;  and  a 
fourth  of  the  whole  number  returned — one  hundred  in  all,  with 
Haselrig  at  their  head — were  by  this  means  excluded  on  grounds 
of  disaffection  or  want  of  religion.  To  these  arbitrary  acts  of 
violence  the  House  replied  only  by  a  course  of  singular  moderation 
and  wisdom.     From  the  first  it  disclaimed  any  purpose  of  opposing 


1262  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  x      the  Government.     One  of  its  earliest  acts  provided  securities  for 
the        Cromwell's    person,    which   was    threatened   by   constant   plots  of 

Puritanism  assassination.  It  supported  him  in  his  war  policy,  and  voted 
to  supplies  of  unprecedented  extent  for  the  maintenance  of  the  struggle. 
—  It  was  this  attitude  of  loyalty  which  gave  force  to  its  steady  refusal 
to  sanction  the  system  of  tyranny  which  had  practically  placed 
England  under  martial  law.  In  his  opening  address  Cromwell 
boldly  took  his  stand  in  support  of  the  military  despotism  wielded 
by  the  major-generals.  "  It  hath  been  more  effectual  towards  the 
discountenancing  of  vice  and  settling  religion  than  anything  done 
these  fifty  years.  I  will  abide  by  it,"  he  said,  with  singular 
vehemence,  "  notwithstanding  the  envy  and  slander  of  foolish  men. 
I  could  as  soon  venture  my  life  with  it  as  with  anything  I  ever 
undertook.  If  it  were  to  be  done  again,  I  would  do  it."  But  no 
sooner  had  a  bill  been  introduced  into  Parliament  to  confirm  the 
proceedings  of  the  major-generals  than  a  long  debate  showed  the 
temper  of  the  Commons.  They  had  resolved  to  acquiesce  in  the 
Protectorate,  but  they  were  equally  resolved  to  bring  it  again  to  a 
legal  mode  of  government.  This  indeed  was  the  aim  of  even 
Cromwell's  wiser  adherents.  "  What  makes  me  fear  the  passing  of 
this  Act,"  one  of  them  wrote  to  his  son  Henry,  "  is  that  thereby 
His  Highness'  government  will  be  more  founded  in  force,  and  more 
removed  from  that  natural  foundation  which  the  people  in  Parlia- 
ment are  desirous  to  give  him,  supposing  that  he  will  become  more 
theirs  than  now  he  is."  The  bill  was  rejected,  and  Cromwell  bowed 
to  the  feeling  of  the  nation  by  withdrawing  the  powers  of  the 
major-generals. 
Offer  But  the  defeat  of  the  tyranny  of  the  sword   was   only  a   step 

Crown      towards  a  far  bolder  effort  for  the  restoration  of  the  power  of  the 

t0  wen"1"  ^aw"  ^  was  no  mere  pedantry,  still  less  was  it  vulgar  flattery, 
which  influenced  the  Parliament  in  their  offer  to  Cromwell  of  the 
title  of  King.  The  experience  of  the  last  few  years  had  taught  the 
nation  the  value  of  the  traditional  forms  under  which  its  liberties 
had  grown  up.  A  king  was  limited  by  constitutional  precedents. 
"  The  king's  prerogative,"  it  was  well  urged,  "  is  under  the  courts 
of  justice,  and  is  bounded  as  well  as  any  acre  of  land,  or  anything 
a  man  hath."  A  Protector,  on  the  other  hand,  was  new  in  our 
history,  and  there  were  no  traditional  means  of  limiting  his  power. 


vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1263 

"  The  one  office  being  lawful  in  its  nature,"  said  Glynne,  "  known      Sec.  x 

to  the  nation,  certain  in  itself,  and  confined  and  regulated  by  the      Fa^"eof 

law,  and  the  other  not  so — that  was  the   great  ground   why  the   PuRITANISM 

.      „  l653 

Parliament  did  so  much  insist  on  this  office  and  title."     Under  the         to 

1660 
name  of   Monarchy,  indeed,  the  question  really  at  issue  between        — 

the  party  headed  by  the  officers  and  the  party  led  by  the  lawyers 
in  the  Commons  was  that  of  the  restoration  of  constitutional  and 
legal  rule.  The  proposal  was  carried  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  Mar.  1657 
but  a  month  passed  in  endless  consultations  between  the  Parlia- 
ment and  the  Protector.  His  good  sense,  his  knowledge  of  the 
general  feeling  of  the  nation,  his  real  desire  to  obtain  a  settlement 
which  should  secure  the  ends  for  which  Puritanism  fought,  political 
and  religious  liberty,  broke  in  conference  after  conference  through 
a  mist  of  words.  But  his  real  concern  throughout  was  with  the 
temper  of  the  army.  Cromwell  knew  well  that  his  government 
was  a  sheer  government  of  the  sword,  and  that  the  discontent  of 
his  soldiery  would  shake  the  fabric  of  his  power.  He  vibrated  to 
and  fro  between  his  sense  of  the  political  advantages  of  such  a 
settlement,  and  his  sense  of  its  impossibility  in  face  of  the  mood  of 
the  army.  His  soldiers,  he  said,  were  no  common  swordsmen. 
They  were  "  godly  men,  men  that  will  not  be  beaten  down  by  a 
worldly  and  carnal  spirit  while  they  keep  their  integrity  ; "  men  in 
whose  general  voice  he  recognized  the  voice  of  God.  "  They  are 
honest  and  faithful  men,"  he  urged,  "  true  to  the  great  things  of  the 
Government.  And  though  it  really  is  no  part  of  their  goodness  to 
be  unwilling  to  submit  to  what  a  Parliament  shall  settle  over  them, 
yet  it  is  my  duty  and  conscience  to  beg  of  you  that  there  may  be 
no  hard  things  put  upon,  them  which  they  cannot  swallow.  I 
cannot  think  God  would  bless  an  undertaking  of  anything  which 
would  justly  and  with  cause  grieve  them."  The  temper  of  the 
army  was  soon  shown.  Its  leaders,  with  Lambert,  Fleetwood,  and 
Desborough  at  their  head,  placed  their  commands  in  Cromwell's 
hands.  A  petition  from  the  officers  to  Parliament  demanded  the 
withdrawal  of  the  proposal  to  restore  the  Monarchy,  "  in  the  name 
of  the  old  cause  for  which  they  had  bled."  Cromwell  at  once 
anticipated  the  coming  debate  on  this  petition,  a  debate  which 
might  have   led    to    an    open  breach   between  the  army  and  the 

May  8, 

Commons,  by  a  refusal  of  the  crown.      "  I  cannot  undertake  this        1657 


THE    LORD    HIGH    ADMIRAL. 
Earl  of  Warwick,  appointed  by  Parliament,  1642 ;  present  officially  at  inauguration  of  Protector,  1657 

After  W.  Hollar. 


CHAP.  VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


126 


Government,"  he  said,  "  with  that  title  of  King  ;  and  that   is   my 
answer  to  this  great  and  weighty  business." 

Disappointed  as  it  was,  the  Parliament  with  singular  self- 
restraint  turned  to  other  modes  of  bringing  about  its  purpose. 
The  offer  of  the  crown  had  been  coupled  with  the  condition 
of  accepting  a  constitution  which  was  a  modification  of  the 
Instrument  of  Government  adopted  by  the  Parliament  of  1654,  and 
this  constitution  Cromwell  emphatically  approved.  "  The  things 
provided  by  this  Act  of  Government,"  he  owned,  "  do  secure  the 
liberties  of  the  people  of  God  as  they  never  before  have  had  them." 
With  a  change  of  the  title  of  King  into  that  of  Protector,  the  Act 


Sec.  X 

The 

Fall  of 

Puritanism 

1653 

TO 
I66O 

Inaugur- 
ation 
of  the 
Protector 


WHITEHALL. 

Residence  of  the  English  Kings,  and  of  Cromwell  as  Lord  Protector. 

After  W.  Hollar. 

of  Government  now  became  law  ;  and  the  solemn  inauguration  of 
the  Protector  by  the  Parliament  was  a  practical  acknowledgement 
on  the  part  of  Cromwell  of  the  illegality  of  his  former  rule.  In  the 
name  of  the  Commons  the  Speaker  invested  him  with  a  mantle  of 
State,  placed  the  sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  girt  the  sword  of  justice 
by  his  side.  By  the  new  Act  of  Government  Cromwell  was  allowed 
to  name  his  own  successor,  but  in  all  after  cases  the  office  was  to 
be  an  elective  one.  In  every  other  respect  the  forms  of  the  older 
Constitution  were  carefully  restored.  Parliament  was  again  to 
consist  of  two  Houses,  the  seventy  members  of  "  the  other  House  " 

The  Commons  regained  their  old 


June  26, 
1657 


being  named  by  the  Protector. 


chap,  vin  PURITAN     ENGLAND  1267 

right  of  exclusively  deciding  on  the  qualification  of  their  members.       Sec.  x 
Parliamentary  restrictions  were  imposed  on  the  choice  of  members      m  The 

J  r  Fall  of 

of  the   Council,   and   officers   of  State    or    of  the  armv.     A   fixed   Puritamsm 

i653 
revenue  was  voted  to  the  Protector,  and   it   was   provided   that  no         to 

.  r       1660 

moneys  should  be  raised  but  by  assent  of  Parliament.     Liberty  of 

worship  was  secured  for  all  but  Papists,  Prelatists,  Socinians,  or 
those  who  denied  the  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  liberty  of 
conscience  was  secured  for  all. 

The  adjournment  of  the  House  after  his  inauguration  left  Crom- 
Cromwell  at  the  height  of  his  power.  He  seemed  at  last  to  have  tr^mphs 
placed  his  government  on  a  legal  and  national  basis.  The  ill- 
success  of  his  earlier  operations  abroad  was  forgotten  in  a  blaze  of 
glory.  On  the  eve  of  the  Parliament's  assembly  one  of  Blake  s 
captains  had  managed  to  intercept  a  part  of  the  Spanish  treasure 
fleet.  At  the  close  of  1656  the  Protector  seemed  to  have  found  the 
means  of  realizing  his  schemes  for  rekindling  the  religious  war 
throughout  Europe  in  a  quarrel  between  the  Duke  of  Savoy  and 
his  Protestant  subjects  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont.  A  ruthless 
massacre  of  these  Vaudois  by  the  Duke's  troops  roused  deep  resent- 
ment throughout  England,  a  resentment  which  still  breathes  in  the 
noblest  of  Milton's  sonnets.  While  the  poet  called  on  God  to 
avenge  his  "  slaughtered  saints,  whose  bones  lie  scattered  on  the 
Alpine  mountains  cold,"  Cromwell  was  already  busy  with  the  work 
of  earthly  vengeance.  An  English  envoy  appeared  at  the  Duke's 
court  with  haughty  demands  of  redress.  Their  refusal  would  have 
been  followed  by  instant  war,  for  the  Protestant  Cantons  of 
Switzerland  were  bribed  into  promising  a  force  of  ten  thousand 
men  for  an  attack  on  Savoy.  The  plan  was  foiled  by  the  cool 
diplomacy  of  Mazarin,  who  forced  the  Duke  to  grant  Cromwell's 
demands  ;  but  the  apparent  success  of  the  Protector  raised  his 
reputation  at  home  and  abroad.  The  spring  of  1657  saw  the 
greatest  as  it  was  the  last  of  the  triumphs  of  Blake.  He  found 
the  Spanish  Plate  fleet  guarded  by  galleons  in  the  strongly-armed 
harbour  of  Santa  Cruz  ;  he  forced  an  entrance  into  the  harbour 
and  burnt  or  sank  every  ship  within  it.  Triumphs  at  sea  were 
followed  by  a  triumph  on  land.  Cromwell's  demand  of  Dunkirk, 
which  had  long  stood  in  the  way  of  any  acceptance  of  his  offers  of 
aid,  was  at  last  conceded  ;  and  a  detachment  of  the  Puritan  army 


A    PARTY    AT    THE    DUKE    OF    NEWCASTLE  S    HOUSE. 
Frontispiece  to  "Nature's  Pictures"  by  Margaret,  Duchess  of  Neiucastle,  1656. 


1    ^JM 


chap,  viii  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1269 


1658 
Death  of 


joined  the  French  troops  who  were  attacking  Flanders  under  the      Sec.  x 
command  of  Turenne.     Their  valour  and  discipline  were  shown  by     M  the 

1  J        Fall  of 

the  part  they  took  in  the  capture  of  Mardyke  ;  and  still  more  by  Puritanism 
the  victory  of  the  Dunes,  a  victory  which  forced  the  Flemish  towns  to 
to  open  their  gates  to  the  French,  and  gave  Dunkirk  to  Cromwell. 
Never  had  the  fame  of  an  English  ruler  stood  higher  ;  but  in 
the  midst  of  his  glory  the  hand  of  death  was  falling  on  the  Pro-  Cromwell 
tector.  .  He  had  long  been  weary  of  his  task.  "  God  knows,"  he 
had  burst  out  to  the  Parliament  a  year  before,  "  I  would  have  been 
glad  to  have  lived  under  my  woodside,  and  to  have  kept  a  flock  ot 
sheep,  rather  than  to  have  undertaken  this  government."  And 
now  to  the  weariness  of  power  was  added  the  weakness  and 
feverish  impatience  of  disease.  Vigorous  and  energetic  as  his  life 
had  seemed,  his  health  was  by  no  means  as  strong  as  his  will ;  he 
had  been  struck  down  by  intermittent  fever  in  the  midst  of  his 
triumphs  both  in  Scotland  and  in  Ireland,  and  during  the  past  year 
he  had  suffered  from  repeated  attacks  of  it.  "  I  have  some  infirmi- 
ties upon  me,"  he  owned  twice  over  in  his  speech  at  the  re-opening 
of  the  Parliament  after  an  adjournment  of  six  months  ;  and  his 
feverish  irritability  was  quickened  by  the  public  danger.  No  Jan.  1658 
supplies  had  been  voted,  and  the  pay  of  the  army  was  heavily  in 
arrear,  while  its  temper  grew  more  and  more  sullen  at  the  appear- 
ance of  the  new  Constitution  and  the  re-awakening  of  the  royalist 
intrigues.  Under  the  terms  of  the  new  Constitution  the  members 
excluded  in  the  preceding  year  took  their  places  again  in  the 
House.  The  mood  of  the  nation  was  reflected  in  the  captious  and 
quarrelsome  tone  of  the  Commons.  They  still  delayed  the  grant 
of  supplies.  Meanwhile  a  hasty  act  of  the  Protector  in  giving  to 
his  nominees  in  "  the  other  House,"  as  the  new  second  chamber  he 
had  devised  was  called,  the  title  of  "  Lords,"  kindled  a  strife 
between  the  two  Houses  which  was  busily  fanned  by  Haselrig  and 
other  opponents  of  the  Government.  It  was  contended  that  the 
"  other  House  "  had  under  the  new  Constitution  simply  judicial 
and  not  legislative  powers.  Such  a  contention  struck  at  Cromwell's 
work  of  restoring  the  old  political  forms  of  English  life  ;  and  the 
reappearance  of  Parliamentary  strife  threw  him  at  last,  says  an 
observer  at  his  court,  "  into  a  rage  and  passion  like  unto  madness." 
What  gave  weight  to  it  was  the  growing  strength  of  the  royalist 
Vol.  Ill— 22 


1270  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  x      party,  and  its  preparations  for  a  coming  rising.     Charles  himself 
the       with  a  large  body  of  Spanish  troops  drew  to  the  coast  of  Flanders 

Puritanism  j-0  take  advantage  of  it.  His  hopes  were  above  all  encouraged  by 
to  the  strife  in  the  Commons,  and  their  manifest  dislike  of  the  system 
—        of  the  Protectorate.     It  was  this  that  drove  Cromwell  to  action. 

Hon  of  the  Summoning  his  coach,  by  a  sudden  impulse,  the  Protector  drove 
Parha-  wjt]1  a  few  guards  to  Westminster ;  and  setting  aside  the 
remonstrances  of  Fleetwood,  summoned  the  two  Houses  to  his 
presence.  "  I  do  dissolve  this  Parliament,"  he  ended  a  speech  of 
angry  rebuke,  "  and  let  God  be  judge  between  you  and  me."  Fatal 
as  was  the  error,  for  the  moment  all  went  well.  The  army  was 
reconciled  by  the  blow  levelled  at  its  opponents,  and  the  few 
murmurers  were  weeded  from  its  ranks  by  a  careful  remodelling. 
The  triumphant  officers  vowed  to  stand  or  fall  with  his  Highness. 
The  danger  of  a  royalist  rising  vanished  before  a  host  of  addresses 
from  the  counties.  Great  news  too  came  from  abroad,  where 
victory  in  Flanders,  and  the  cession  of  Dunkirk,  set  the  seal  on 
Cromwell's  glory.  But  the  fever  crept  steadily  on,  and  his  looks 
told  the  tale  of  death  to  the  Quaker,  Fox,  who  met  him  riding  in 
Hampton  Court  Park.  "Before  I  came  to  him,"  he  says,  "as  he 
rode  at  the  head  of  his  Life  Guards,  I  saw  and  felt  a  waft  of  death 
go  forth  against  him,  and  when  I  came  to  him  he  looked  like  a 
dead  man."  In  the  midst  of  his  triumph  Cromwell's  heart  was  in 
fact  heavy  with  the  sense  of  failure.  He  had  no  desire  to  play  the 
tyrant ;  nor  had  he  any  belief  in  the  permanence  of  a  mere  tyranny. 
He  clung  desperately  to  the  hope  of  bringing  the  country  to  his 
side.  He  had  hardly  dissolved  the  Parliament  before  he  was 
planning  the  summons  of  another,  and  angry  at  the  opposition 
which  his  Council  offered  to  the  project.  "  I  .will  take  my  own 
resolutions,"  he  said  gloomily  to  his  household  ;  "  I  can  no  longer 
satisfy  myself  to  sit  still,  and  make  myself  guilty  of  the  loss  of  all 
the  honest  party  and  of  the  nation  itself."     But  before  his  plans 

Aug.  1658  could  be  realized  the  overtaxed  strength  of  the  Protector  suddenly 
gave  way.  He  saw  too  clearly  the  chaos  into  which  his  death 
would  plunge  England  to  be  willing  to  die.  "  Do  not  think  I  shall 
die,"  he  burst  out  with  feverish  energy  to  the  physicians  who 
gathered  round  him  ;  "  say  not  I  have  lost  my  reason  !  I  tell  you 
the  truth.     I  know  it  from  better  authority  than  any  you  can  have 


VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


1271 


from  Galen  or  Hippocrates.  It  is  the  answer  of  God  Himself  to 
our  prayers  !  "  Prayer  indeed  rose  from  every  side  for  his  recovery, 
but  death  drew  steadily  nearer,  till  even  Cromwell  felt  that  his 
hour  was  come.  "  I  would  be  willing  to  live,"  the  dying  man 
murmured,  "to  be  further  serviceable  to  God  and  His  people,  but 
my  work  is  done  !  Yet  God  will  be  with  His  people  !"  A  storm 
which  tore  roofs  from  houses,  and  levelled  huge  trees  in  every 
forest,  seemed  a  fitting  prelude  to  the  passing  away  of  his  mighty 
spirit.  Three  days  later,  on  the  third  of  September,  the  day  which 
had  witnessed  his  victories  of  Worcester  and  Dunbar,  Cromwell 
quietly  breathed  his  last. 

So  absolute  even  in  death  was  his  sway  over  the  minds  of  men, 
that,  to  the  wonder  of  the  excited  royalists,  even  a  doubtful  nomina- 
tion on  his  death-bed  was  enough  to  secure  the  peaceful  succession 
of  his  son,  Richard  Cromwell.  Many,  in  fact,  who  had  rejected 
the  authority  of  his  father  submitted  peacefully  to  the  new  Pro- 
tector. Their  motives  were  explained  by  Baxter,  the  most  eminent 
among  the  Presbyterian  ministers,  in  the  address  to  Richard  which 
announced  his  adhesion.  "I  observe,"  he  says,  "that  the  nation 
generally  rejoice  in  your  peaceable  entrance  upon  the  Government. 
Many  are  persuaded  that  you  have  been  strangely  kept  from 
participating  in  any  of  our  late  bloody  contentions,  that  God  might 
make  you  the  healer  of  our  breaches,  and  employ  you  in  that 
Temple  work  which  David  himself  might  not  be  honoured  with, 
though  it  was  in  his  mind,  because  he  shed  blood  abundantly  and 
made  great  wars."  The  new  Protector  was  a  weak  and  worthless 
man,  but  the  bulk  of  the  nation  were  content  to  be  ruled  by  one  who 
was  at  any  rate  no  soldier,  no  Puritan,  and  no  innovator.  Richard 
was  known  to  be  lax  and  worldly  in  his  conduct,  and  he  was 
believed  to  be  conservative  and  even  royalist  in  heart.  The  tide 
of  reaction  was  felt  even  in  his  Council.  Their  first  act  was  to 
throw  aside  one  of  the  greatest  of  Cromwell's  reforms,  and  to  fall 
back  in  the  summons  which  they  issued  for  the  new  Parliament 
on  the  old  system  of  election.  It  was  felt  far  more  keenly  in  the 
tone  of  the  new  House  of  Commons.  The  republicans  under 
Vane,  backed  adroitly  by  the  secret  royalists,  fell  hotly  on  Crom- 
well's system.  The  fiercest  attack  of  all  came  from  Sir  Ashley 
Cooper,   a   Dorsetshire  gentleman  who  had  changed   sides  in  the 


Sec.  X 

The 

Fall  of 

Puritanism 

1653 

TO 
I66O 


The 

Fall  ot 
Puritan- 
ism 


Richard 
Cromwell 


Jan.  1659 


chap,  vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1273 

civil  war,  had  fought  for  the   King  and   then  for  the  Parliament,       Sec,  x 
had  been  a  member  of  Cromwell's  Council,  and  had  of  late  ceased      _  The 

'  Fall  of 

to  be  a  member  of  it.     His  virulent  invective  on  "  his  Highness  of   p^R1jANISM 

l653 
deplorable  memory,  who  with  fraud  and  force  deprived  you  of  your         to 

liberty  when  living,  and  entailed  slavery  on  you  at  his  death,"  was        — 
followed    by    an    equally    virulent    invective    against    the    army. 
"  They  have  not  only  subdued  their  enemies,"  said  Cooper,  "  but 
the  masters   who  raised  and   maintained   them  !     They  have   not 
only  conquered  Scotland  and  Ireland,  but  rebellious  England  too ; 
and  there  suppressed  a  Malignant  party  of  magistrates  and  laws." 
The  army  was  quick  with  its  reply.     It  had  already  demanded  the 
appointment  of  a  soldier  as  its   General   in  the  place  of  the  new 
Protector,  who  had    assumed    the    command.      The    tone    of  the 
Council  of  Officers  now  became  so  menacing  that  the  Commons 
ordered  the  dismissal  of  all  officers  who  refused  to  engage  "not  to 
disturb  or  interrupt  the   free  meetings  of  Parliament."     Richard 
ordered  the   Council  of    Officers  to  dissolve.     Their  reply  was  a      Return 
demand  for  a  dissolution  of  the  Parliament,  a  demand  with  which      %Ump 
Richard  was  forced  to  comply.     The  purpose  of  the  army  however 
was  still  to  secure  a  settled  government ;  and  setting  aside  the  new 
Protector,  whose    weakness    was    now  evident,   they    resolved    to 
come  to  a  reconciliation  with  the  republican  party,  and  to  recall 
the  fragment  of  the  Commons  whom  they  had  expelled  from  St. 
Stephen's   in   1653.     Of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  members  who 
had  continued  to  sit  after  the  King's  death,  about  ninety  returned 
to  their  seats,  and  resumed  the  administration  of  affairs.     But  the 
continued  exclusion  of  the  members  who  had  been  "  purged  "  from 
the  House  in  1648,  proved  that  no  real  intention  existed  of  restor- 
ing a  legal  rule.     The  House  was  soon  at  strife  with  the  soldiers. 
In  spite  of  Vane's  counsels,  it  proposed  a  reform  of  the  officers, 
and  though  a  royalist  rising  in  Cheshire  during  August  threw  the 
disputants   for  a    moment   together,  the    struggle    revived  as  the 
danger  passed  away.      A    new  hope  indeed    filled  men's    minds. 
Not  only  was  the  nation  sick  of  military  rule,  but  the   army,  un-   Divisions 
conquerable  so  long  as  it  held  together,  at  last  showed  signs  of      Army 
division.     In  Ireland  and  Scotland  the  troops  protested  against  the 
attitude  of  their  English  comrades  ;  and  Monk,  the  commander  of 
the  Scottish    army,  threatened  to  march  on  London  and  free  the 


GENERAL    MONK. 
Miniature  by  S.  Cooper,  in  the  Royal  Collection  at  Windsor. 


^— 


CHAP.  V 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1275 


Parliament    from    their    pressure.       Their    divisions    encouraged       Sec.  x 
Haselrig  and  his  coadjutors  to  demand  the  dismissal  of  Fleetwood        The 


and    Lambert  from  their  commands. 


Fall  of 

They  answered  by  driving   Puritanism 

1653 

the   Parliament  again  from  Westminster,  and  by  marching  under         to 

1660 


GENERAL    LAMBERT. 
From  an  old  print. 


Lambert  to  the  north  to  meet  Monk's  army.  Negotiations  gave 
Monk  time  to  gather  a  Convention  at  Edinburgh,  and  strengthen 
himself  with  money  and  recruits.  His  attitude  roused  England  to 
action.  So  rapidly  did  the  tide  of  feeling  rise  throughout  the 
country  that  the  army  was  driven  to  undo  its  work  by  recalling  the 


1276 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  x      Rump.      Monk   however   advanced    rapidly   to    Coldstream,    and 
the        crossed  the  border.     The  cry  of  "  A  free  Parliament "  ran*  like  fire 

Fall  of  j 

Puritanism  through  the  country.  Not  only  Fairfax,  who  appeared  in  arms  in 
Yorkshire,  but  the  ships  on  the  Thames  and  the  mob  which 
thronged  the  streets  of  London  caught  up  the  cry  ;  and  Monk,  who 
lavished  protestations  of  loyalty  to  the  Rump,  while  he  accepted 
petitions    for   a    "  Free    Parliament,"   entered   London   unopposed. 


TO 
I66O 


Jan.  1660 


CHARLES    II.     EMBARKING    FOR    ENGLAND. 
"  Konincklijcke  Beltenis,"  1660. 


From  the  moment  of  his  entry  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  be- 
came inevitable.  The  army,  resolute  as  it  still  remained  for  the 
maintenance  of  "  the  cause,"  was  deceived  by  Monk's  declarations 
of  loyalty  to  it,  and  rendered  powerless  by  his  adroit  dispersion 
The  Con-    of  the  troops    over   the  country.      At  the    instigation  of  Ashley 

i)€  ntton 

Cooper,  those  who   remained  of  the  members  who  had  been  ex- 


April  25 


eluded  from  the  House  of  Commons  by  Pride's   Purge   in    1648 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1277 


again  forced  their  way  into  Parliament,  and  at  once  resolved  on  a      Sec.  x 
dissolution  and  the  election  of  a  new  House  of  Commons.     The     „  The 

Fall  of 

new  House,  which  bears  the  name  of  the  Convention,  had  hardly  Plritanism 

1653 
taken  the  solemn   League  and  Covenant  which  showed  its  Presby- 


terian temper,  and  its  leaders  had  only  begun  to  draw  up  terms  on 
which  the  King's  restoration  might  be  assented  to,  when  they 
found  that  Monk  was  in  negotiation   with  the  exiled  Court.     All 


TO 
I66O 


ENTRY    OF    CHARLES     II.     INTO    LONDON. 
"  Konincklijcke  Beltenis,"  1660. 


exaction  of  terms  was  now  impossible  ;  a  Declaration  from  Breda, 
in  which  Charles  promised  a  general  pardon,  religious  toleration, 
and  satisfaction  to  the  army,  was  received  with  a  burst  of  national 
enthusiasm  ;  and  the  old  Constitution  was  restored  by  a  solemn 
vote  of  the  Convention,  "  that  according  to  the  ancient  and  funda- 
mental laws  of  this  Kingdom,  the  government  is,  and  ought  to  be,  Rq^1^ 
by  King,  Lords,  and  Commons."     The  King  was  at  once  invited    May  25 


1278 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


to  hasten  to  his   realm  ;   he  landed   at   Dover,  and  made  his  way 
amidst  the  shouts  of  a  great  multitude  to  Whitehall.     "  It  is  my 

Puritanism  own  fault,"  laughed   the  new  King,  with  characteristic  irony,  "  that 

J^53 

I  had  not  come  back  sooner  ;  for  I  find  nobody  who  does  not  tell 

me  he  has  always  longed  for  my  return." 

Puritanism,  so  men  believed,  had  fallen  never  to  rise  again.     As 

a  political  experiment  it  had  ended  in  utter  failure  and  disgust. 


Sec.  X 

The 
Fall  of 


to 
1660 


Milton 


BANQUET      AT      WHITEHALL. 

"  Konincklijcke  Beltenis,"  1660. 


As  a  religious  system  of  national  life  it  brought  about  the  wildest 
outbreak  of  moral  revolt  that  England  has  ever  witnessed.  And 
yet  Puritanism  was  far  from  being  dead  ;  it  drew  indeed  a  nobler 
life  from  suffering  and  defeat.  Nothing  aids  us  better  to  trace 
the  real  course  of  Puritan  influence  since  the  fall  of  Puritanism 
than  the  thought  of  the  two  great  works  which  have  handed  down 
from    one    generation    to   another   its  highest   and   noblest  spirit. 


i66o 


vin  PURITAN    ENGLAND  1279 

From  that  time  to  this  the  most  popular  of  all  religious  books  has       Sec.  x 

been  the  Puritan  allegory  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."     The  most        The 

popular  of  all  English  poems  has  been  the   Puritan  epic  of   the  ********** 

1653 
"  Paradise  Lost."     Milton  had  been  engaged  during  the  civil  war 

in   strife  with  Presbyterians  and  with   Royalists,  pleading  for  civil 
and  religious  freedom,  for  freedom  of   social  life,  and  freedom  of 
the   press.     At    a  later  time  he    became   Latin   Secretary  to   the 
Protector,    in  spite  of   a  blindness  which  had    been    brought    on 
by  the  intensity  of  his  study.     The  Restoration  found   him  of  all 
living  men  the    most   hateful    to    the    Royalists  ;    for  it  was    his 
"  Defence  of  the  English  People  "  which  had  justified    throughout 
Europe  the  execution  of  the  King.     Parliament  ordered   his  book 
to  be  burnt  by  the  common  hangman  ;  he  was  for  a  time  imprisoned, 
and  even  when  released  he  had  to  live  amidst  threats  of  assassina- 
tion from  fanatical  Cavaliers.     To  the  ruin  of  his  cause  were  added 
personal  misfortunes  in  the  bankruptcy  of  the  scrivener  who  held 
the  bulk  of  his  property,  and  in  the  Fire  of  London,  which  deprived 
him  of  much  of  what  was  left.     As  age  drew  on,  he  found  himself 
reduced    to   comparative  poverty,  and  driven   to  sell    his  library 
for  subsistence.     Even  among  the  sectaries  who  shared  his  political 
opinions    Milton    stood    in    religious    opinion    alone,    for    he    had 
gradually   severed   himself    from    every    accepted    form    of    faith, 
had  embraced  Arianism,  and   had   ceased  to  attend   at   any  place 
of  worship.     Nor  was  his  home  a    happy    one.     The    grace    and 
geniality  of  his  youth  disappeared  in  the  drudgery  of  a  school- 
master's life  and  amongst  the  invectives  of  controversy.     In  age 
his    temper    became    stern    and    exacting.      His    daughters,  who 
were  forced  to  read  to  their  blind  father  in  languages  which  they 
could    not    understand,   revolted    utterly    against    their    bondage. 
But  solitude  and  misfortune  only  brought  out   into    bolder  relief 
Milton's    inner  greatness.     There  was  a  grand   simplicity   in    the 
life  of  his  later  years.      He  listened  every  morning  to  a  chapter 
of  the    Hebrew    Bible,   and    after  musing  in    silence  for  a  while 
pursued    his  studies  till  midday.     Then  he  took  exercise  for  an 
hour,  played  for  another  hour  on  the  organ  or  viol,  and  renewed 
his  studies.      The   evening   was   spent    in    converse    with    visitors 
and  friends.     For,  lonely  and  unpopular,  as  Milton  was,  there  was 
one  thing  about  him  which  made  his  house   in  Bunhill   Fields  a 


1280 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  X 

The 

Fall  of 

Puritanism 

1653 

TO 
I66O 


MONUMENT    OF     JOHN     DONNE,     POET, 

d.   1631. 
In  S.  Paul's  Cathedral. 


place  of  pilgrimage  to  the  wits 
of    the     Restoration.      He    was 
the    last    of    the    Elizabethans. 
He  had  possibly  seen  Shakspere, 
as  on  his  visits  to  London  after 
his  retirement  to  Stratford  the 
playwright  passed  along  Bread 
Street  to  his  wit  combats  at  the 
Mermaid.    He  had  been  the  con- 
temporary of  Webster  and  Mas- 
singer,  of  Herrick  and  Crashaw. 
His    "Comus"  and   "  Arcades  " 
had  rivalled  the  masques  of  Ben 
Jonson.    It  was  with  a  reverence 
drawn  from  thoughts  like  these 
that    men   looked   on   the  blind 
poet  as  he  sate,  clad  in  black, 
in  his  chamber  hung  with  rusty 
green    tapestry,  his    fair    brown 
hair  falling  as  of  old  over  a  calm, 
serene    face   that    still    retained 
much  of  its  youthful  beauty,  his 
cheeks    delicately   coloured,    his 
clear  grey  eyes  showing  no  trace 
of  their  blindness.     But  famous, 
whether  for  good   or   ill,  as  his 
prose   writings    had    made   him, 
during  fifteen  years  only  a  few 
sonnets  had  broken   his  silence 
as  a  singer.     It  was  now,  in  his 
blindness  and  old  age,  with  the 
cause    he    loved    trodden    under 
foot  by  men  as  vile  as  the  rabble 
in  "  Comus,"  that  the  genius  of 
Milton  took  refuge  in  the  great 
poem    on    which  through  years 
of  silence   his  imagination    had 
still  been  brooding. 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND 


1281 


On  his   return   from   his  travels   in    Italy,   Milton   had  spoken       Sec.  x 
of  himself  as  musing;  on  "  a  work  not  to  be  raised  from  the  heat  of        The 

&  Fall  of 

youth  or  the  vapours  of  wine,  like  that  which  flows   at  waste  from   PlR,Tf' SM 

the  pen  of  some  vulgar  amourist  or  the  trencher  fury  of  a  rhyming         to 

1660 


The 


parasite,  nor  to  be  obtained  by  the  invocation  of  Dame  Memory 

and  her  Siren  daughters  ;  but  by  devout   prayer   to   that   Eternal   Paradise 

Spirit  who  can  enrich  with  all  utterance  and  knowledge,  and  sends 

out  His  Seraphim,  with  the   hallowed   fire   of  His  altar,  to  touch 


JOHN     MILTON,     AGED    SIXTY-TWO. 
Frontispiece  to  his   "History  of  Britain" ;   engraved  by   W.  Faithorne,   1670. 

and  purify  the  lips  of  whom  He  pleases."  His  lips  were  touched 
at  last.  In  his  quiet  retreat  he  mused  during  these  years  of 
persecution  and  loneliness  on  his  great  work.  Seven  years  after 
the  Restoration  appeared  the  "Paradise  Lost,"  and  four  years 
later  the  "  Paradise  Regained  "  and  "  Samson  Agonistes,"  in  the 
severe  grandeur  of  whose  verse  we  see  the  poet  himself  "  fallen," 
like  Samson,  "  on  evil  days  and  evil  tongues,  with  darkness  and 
with  danger  compassed  round."     But  great  as  the  two  last  works 


1667 


1252 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  x      were,  their  greatness   was   eclipsed  by  that   of  their  predecessor. 
The       The  whole   genius  of   Milton    expressed   itself  in   the    "  Paradise 

Fall  of 

Puritanism  Lost"     The  romance,  the  gorgeous  fancy,  the  daring  imagination 
which  he  shared  with  the  Elizabethan  poets,  the  large  but  ordered 


TO 
I66O 


beauty  of  form  which  he  had  drunk  in  from  the  literature  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  the  sublimity  of  conception,  the  loftiness  of  phrase, 
which  he  owed  to  the  Bible,  blended  in  this  story  "  of  man's 
first  disobedience,  and  the  fruit  of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose 
mortal  taste  brought  death  into  the  world  and  all  our  woe."     It  is 


milton's   house  at   chaefont  st.  giles,   bucks. 


only  when  we  review  the  strangely  mingled  elements  which  make 
up  the  poem,  that  we  realize  the  genius  which  fused  them  into  such 
a  perfect  whole.  The  meagre  outline  of  the  Hebrew  legend  is  lost 
in  the  splendour  and  music  of  Milton's  verse.  The  stern  idealism 
of  Geneva  is  clothed  in  the  gorgeous  robes  of  the  Renascence. 
If  we  miss  something  of  the  free  play  of  Spenser's  fancy,  and  yet 
more  of  the  imaginative  delight  in  their  own  creations  which  gives 
so  exquisite  a  life  to  the  poetry  of  the  early  dramatists,  we  find  in 
place  of  these  the  noblest  example  which  our  literature  affords 
of  the  ordered   majesty  of  classic  form.     But  it  is   not  with  the 


VIII 


PURITAN    ENGLAND  1283 


The 
Fall  of 

Puritanism 


to 
1660 


literary  value  of  the  "  Paradise  Lost  "  that  we  are  here  concerned.  Sec,  x 
Its  historic  importance  lies  in  this,  that  it  is  the  Epic  of  Puritanism. 
Its  scheme  is  the  problem  with  which  the  Puritan  wrestled  in 
hours  of  gloom  and  darkness,  the  problem  of  sin  and  redemption, 
of  the  world-wide  struggle  of  evil  against  good.  The  intense  moral 
concentration  of  the  Puritan  had  given  an  almost  bodily  shape  to 
spiritual  abstractions  before  Milton  gave  life  and  being  to  the  forms 
of  Sin  and  Death.  It  was  the  Puritan  tendency  to  mass  into  one 
vast  "  body  of  sin  "  the  various  forms  of  human  evil,  and  by  the 
very  force  of  a  passionate  hatred  to  exaggerate  their  magnitude 
and  their  power,  to  which  we  owe  the  conception  of  Milton's  Satan. 
The  greatness  of  the  Puritan  aim  in  the  long  and  wavering  struggle 
for  justice  and  law  and  a  higher  good  ;  the  grandeur  of  character 
which  the  contest  developed  ;  the  colossal  forms  of  good  and  evil 
which  moved  over  its  stage  ;  the  debates  and  conspiracies  and 
battles  which  had  been  men's  life  for  twenty  years  ;  the  mighty 
eloquence  and  mightier  ambition  which  the  war  had  roused  into 
being — all  left  their  mark  on  the  "  Paradise  Lost."  Whatever  was 
highest  and  best  in  the  Puritan  temper  spoke  in  the  nobleness  and 
elevation  of  the  poem,  in  its  purity  of  tone,  in  its  grandeur  of  con- 
ception, in  its  ordered  and  equable  realization  of  a  great  purpose. 
Even  in  his  boldest  flights,  Milton  is  calm  and  master  of  himself. 
His  touch  is  always  sure.  Whether  he  passes  from  Heaven  to  Hell, 
or  from  the  council  hall  of  Satan  to  the  sweet  conference  of  Adam 
and  Eve,  his  tread  is  steady  and  unfaltering.  But  if  the  poem 
expresses  the  higher  qualities  of  the  Puritan  temper,  it  expresses 
no  less  exactly  its  defects.  Throughout  it  we  feel  almost  pain- 
fully a  want  of  the  finer  and  subtler  sympathies,  of  a  large  and 
genial  humanity,  of  a  sense  of  spiritual  mystery.  Dealing  as 
Milton  does  with  subjects  the  most  awful  and  mysterious  that  poet 
ever  chose,  he  is  never  troubled  by  the  obstinate  questionings  of 
invisible  things  which  haunted  the  imagination  of  Shakspere.  We 
look  in  vain  for  any  ^Eschylean  background  of  the  vast  unknown. 
"  Man's  disobedience  "  and  the  scheme  for  man's  redemption  are 
laid  down  as  clearly  and  with  just  as  little  mystery  as  in  a  Puritan 
discourse.  On  topics  such  as  these  even  God  the  Father  (to 
borrow  Pope's  sneer)  "  turns  a  school  divine."  As  in  his  earlier 
poems  he  had  ordered  and  arranged   nature,   so  in  the  "  Paradise 


1284  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 

Sec.  x      Lost "     Milton    orders    and    arranges     Heaven    and     Hell.       His 
the       mightiest  figures,  Angel  or  Archangel,  Satan   or  Belial,   stand  out 

r  ALL    OF 

Puritanism  colossal  but  distinct.      There  is  just  as  little  of  the  wide  sympathy 

to        with  all  that  is  human  which  is  so  loveable  in  Chaucer  and  Shakspere. 
1660  .         .  r 

—  On  the  contrary  the  Puritan  individuality  is  nowhere  so  overpower- 
ing as  in  Milton.  He  leaves  the  stamp  of  himself  deeply  graven 
on  all  he  creates.  We  hear  his  voice  in  every  line  of  his  poem. 
The  cold  severe  conception  of  moral  virtue  which  reigns  throughout 
it,  the  intellectual  way  in  which  he  paints  and  regards  beauty  (for 
the  beauty  of  Eve  is  a  beauty  which  no  mortal  man  may  love) 
are  Milton's  own.  We  feel  his  inmost  temper  in  the  stoical  self- 
repression  which  gives  its  dignity  to  his  figures.  Adam  utters  no 
cry  of  agony  when  he  is  driven  from  Paradise.  Satan  suffers 
in  a  defiant  silence.  It  is  to  this  intense  self-concentration  that 
we  must  attribute  the  strange  deficiency  of  humour  which  Milton 
shared  with  the  Puritans  generally,  and  which  here  and  there 
breaks  the  sublimity  of  his  poem  with  strange  slips  into  the 
grotesque.  But  it  is  above  all  to  this  Puritan  deficiency  in  human 
sympathy  that  we  must  attribute  his  wonderful  want  of  dramatic 
genius.  Of  the  power  which  creates  a  thousand  different  characters, 
which  endows  each  with  its  appropriate  act  and  word,  which  loses 
itself  in  its  own  creations,  no  great  poet  ever  had  less. 

Disband-         The   poem    of   Milton   was   the  epic  of  a   fallen   cause.     The 
in&f 
of  the     broken  hope,  which  had  seen  the  Kingdom  of  the  Saints  pass  like 

Army  a  dream  away,  spoke  in  its  very  name.  Paradise  was  lost  once 
more,  when  the  New  Model,  which  embodied  the  courage  and  the 
hope  of  Puritanism,  laid  down  its  arms.  In  his  progress  to  the 
capital  Charles  passed  in  review  the  soldiers  assembled  on  Black- 
heath.  Betrayed  by  their  general,  abandoned  by  their  leaders, 
surrounded  as  they  were  by  a  nation  in  arms,  the  gloomy  silence 
of  their  ranks  awed  even  the  careless  King  with  a  sense  of  danger 
But  none  of  the  victories  of  the  New  Model  were  so  glorious  as  the 
victory  which  it  won  over  itself.  Quietly,  and  without  a  struggle, 
as  men  who  bowed  to  the  inscrutable  will  of  God,  the  farmers  and 
traders  who  had  dashed  Rupert's  chivalry  to  pieces  on  Naseby 
field,  who  had  scattered  at  Worcester  the  "  army  of  the  aliens," 
and  driven  into  helpless  flight  the  sovereign  that  now  came  "  to 
enjoy  his  own  again,"  who  had  renewed  beyond  sea  the  glories  of 


VIII 


PURITAN     ENGLAND 


1285 


TO 
I66O 


Crecy  and  Agincourt,  had  mastered  the  Parliament,  had  brought  sec.  x 
a  King  to  justice  and  the  block,  had  given  laws  to  England,  and  The 
held  even  Cromwell  in  awe,  became  farmers  and  traders  again,  and  PlRITANbM 
were  known  among  their  fellow-men  by  no  other  signs  than  their 
greater  soberness  and  industry.  And,  with  them,  Puritanism  laid 
down  the  sword.  It  ceased  from  the  long  attempt  to  build  up  a 
kingdom  of  God  by  force  and  violence,  and  fell  back  on  its  truer 
work  of  building  up  a  kingdom  of  righteousness  in  the  hearts  and 
consciences  of  men.  It  was  from  the  moment  of  its  seeming  fall 
that  its  real  victory  began.  As  soon  as  the  wild  orgy  of  the 
Restoration  was  over,  men  began  to  see  that  nothing  that  was 
really  worthy  in  the  work  of  Puritanism  had  been  undone.  The 
revels  of  Whitehall,  the  scepticism  and  debauchery  of  courtiers, 
the  corruption  of  statesmen,  left  the  mass  of  Englishmen  what 
Puritanism  had  made  them,  serious,  earnest,  sober  in  life  and 
conduct,  firm  in  their  love  of  Protestantism  and  of  freedom.  In 
the  Revolution  of  1688  Puritanism  did  the  work  of  civil  liberty 
which  it  had  failed  to  do  in  that  of  1642.  It  wrought  out  through 
Wesley  and  the  revival  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  work  of 
religious  reform  which  its  earlier  efforts  had  only  thrown  back  for  a 
hundred  years.  Slowly  but  steadily  it  introduced  its  own  serious- 
ness and  purity  into  English  society,  English  literature,  English 
politics.  The  whole  history  of  English  progress  since  the  Restora- 
tion, on  its  moral  and  spiritual  sides,  has  been  the  history  of 
Puritanism. 


.tfllHJWi 


CROWN-PIECE. 
Design  by  Simon,  Engraver  of  the  Mint  during  the  Commonwealth,  rejected  by  Charles  II. 

Museum  at  the  Mint,  London. 


Vol.  Ill— 23 


CHAPTER   IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


Modern 
England 


Section   I.— England  and  the  Revolution 

[Authorities. — For  the  social  change  see  Memoirs  of  Pepys  and  Evelyn,  the 
dramatic  works  of  Wycherly  and  Etherege,  and  Lord  Macaulay's  "  Essay  on 
the  Dramatists  of  the  Restoration."  For  the  earlier  history  of  English  Science 
see  Hallam's  sketch  ("Literary  History,"  vol.  iv.)  ;  the  histories  of  the  Royal 
Society  by  Thompson  or  Wade  ;  and  Sir  D.  Brewster's  biography  of  Newton. 
Sir  W.  Molesworth  has  edited  the  works  of  Hobbes.] 

The  entry   of  Charles   the   Second  into  Whitehall  marked   a 
deep  and  lasting  change   in  the  temper  of  the    English    people. 

With  it  modern  Eng- 
land began.  The  in- 
fluences which  had  up 
to  this  time  moulded 
our  history,  the  theo- 
logical influence  of  the 
Reformation,  the  mon- 
archical influence  of 
the  new  kingship,  the 
feudal  influence  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  the  yet 
earlier  influence  of 
tradition  and  custom, 
suddenly  lost  power 
over  the  minds  of  men. 
From  the  moment  of 
the  Restoration  we  find 
ourselves  all  at  once 
among  the  great  currents  of  thought  and  activity  which  have  gone 


AMPULLA,    OR   ANOINTING    CRUSE,    MADE    FOR    THE 

CORONATION     OF     CHARLES     II. 

Tower  of  London. 


CHARLES     II. 
Illumination  on  a  letter  patent  in  Public  Record  Office. 


CHAP.  IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1287 


on  widening  and  deepening  from  that  time  to  this.     The  England       sEC.  i 
around  us  becomes  our  own   England,  an   England   whose   chief    England 

AND    THE 

forces  are  industry  and  science,  the  love  of  popular  freedom  and  of     Revolu- 

"*  x        L  TION 

law,  an  England  which  presses  steadily  forward  to  a  larger  social 
justice  and  equality,  and  which  tends  more  and  more  to  bring 
every  custom  and  tradition,  religious,  intellectual,  and  political, 
to    the    test     of    pure 


reason.  Between  mo- 
dern thought,  on  some 
at  least  of  its  more  im- 
portant sides,  and  the 
thought  of  men  before 
the  Restoration  there 
is  a  great  gulf  fixed. 
A  political  thinker  in 
the  present  day  would 
find  it  equally  hard 
to  discuss  any  point 
•of  statesmanship  with 
Lord  Burleigh  or  with 
Oliver  Cromwell.  He 
would  find  no  point  of 
contact  between  their 
ideas  of  national  life  or 
national  welfare,  their 
conception  of  govern- 
ment or  the  ends  of 
government,  their  mode 
of  regarding  economical 
and  social  questions, 
and   his  own.     But  no 

gulf  of  this  sort  parts  us  from  the  men  who  followed  the  Restora- 
tion. From  that  time  to  this,  whatever  differences  there  may  have 
been  as  to  practical  conclusions  drawn  from  them,  there  has  been 
a  substantial  agreement  as  to  the  grounds  of  our  political,  our 
social,  our  intellectual  and  religious  life.  Paley  would  have  found 
no  difficulty  in  understanding  Tillotson:  Xewton  and  Sir  Humphry 
Davy  could   have   talked   without    a   sense   of  severance       There 


SATIRE    ON    THE    PURITANS. 

From   Messrs.    Goldsmid' s  facsimile  of   Cavalier  playing 
cards  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Selson. 


1288 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 

The 

Puritan 

Ideal 


would  have  been  nothing  to  hinder  a  perfectly  clear  discussion  on 
government  or  law  between  John  Locke  and  Jeremy  Bentham. 

The  change  from  the  old  England  to  the  new  is  so  startling 
that  we  are  apt  to  look  on  it  as  a  more  sudden  change  than  it 
really  was,  and  the  outer  aspect  of  the  Restoration  does  much  to 
strengthen  this  impression  of  suddenness.     The  aim  of  the  Puritan 

had  been  to  set  up  a 
visible  Kingdom  of  God 
upon  earth.  He  had 
wrought  out  his  aim 
by  reversing  the  policy 
of  the  Stuarts  and  the 
Tudors.  From  the  time 
of  Henry  the  Eighth  to 
the  time  of  Charles  the 
First,  the  Church  had 
been  looked  upon  prim- 
arily as  an  instrument 
for  securing,  by  moral 
and  religious  influences, 
the  social  and  political 
ends  of  the  State.  Un- 
der the  Commonwealth, 
the  State,  in  its  turn, 
was  regarded  primarily 
as  an  instrument  for 
securing  through  its 
political  and  social  in- 
fluences the  moral  and 
religious  ends  of  the 
Church.  In  the  Puritan 
theory,  Englishmen  were  "  the  Lord's  people  ; "  a  people  dedicated 
to  Him  by  a  solemn  Covenant,  and  whose  end  as  a  nation  was  to 
carry  out  His  will.  For  such  an  end  it  was  needful  that  rulers,  as 
well  as  people,  should  be  "  godly  men."  Godliness  became  neces- 
sarily the  chief  qualification  for  public  employment.  The  new 
modelling  of  the  army  filled  its  ranks  with  "  saints."  Parliament 
resolved  to  employ  no  man  "but  such  as  the  House  shall  be  satisfied 


Shppona  Waooonerto  S.F.Vcrt 
one  of  OliuersJfictors. 


SATIRE    ON    THE    PURITANS. 

From    Messrs.  Goldsmid's  facsimile   of  Cavalier  playing 
cards  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Nelson. 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1289 


of  his  real  godliness."     The  Covenant  which  bound  the  nation  to 
God  bound  it  to  enforce  God's  laws  even  more  earnestly  than  its 
own.     The  Bible  lay  on  the  table  of  the  House  of  Commons  ;  and 
its  prohibition  of  swearing,  of  drunkenness,  of  fornication  became 
part  of  the  law  of  the  land.     Adultery  was  made  felony  without 
the  benefit  of  clergy.     Pictures  whose  subjects  jarred  with  the  new 
decorum  were  ordered  to  be  burnt,  and  statues  were  chipped  ruth- 
lessly into  decency.     It  was  in 
the  same  temper  that  Puritan- 
ism turned  from  public  life  to 
private.    The  Covenant  bound 
not  the  whole  nation  only,  but 
every  individual  member  of  the 
nation,  to  "  a  jealous  God,"  a 
God  jealous  of  any  supersti- 
tion  that  robbed    him   of  the 
worship  which  was  exclusively 
his    due,   jealous   of  the    dis- 
traction   and    frivolity   which 
robbed  him  of  the  entire  de- 
votion of  man  to  his  service. 
The  want  of  poetry,  of  fancy, 
in  the   common  Puritan  tem- 
per condemned  half  the  popu- 
lar observances  of  England  as 
superstitions.      It    was   super- 
stitious to  keep  Christmas,  or 
to  deck  the  house  with  holly 
and  ivy.     It  was  superstitious 
to    dance    round    the    village 

May-pole.  It  was  flat  Popery  to  eat  a  mince-pie.  The  rough 
sport,  the  mirth  and  fun  of  "  merry  England,"  were  out  of 
place  in  an  England  called  with  so  great  a  calling.  Bull-baiting, 
bear-baiting,  horse-racing,  cock-fighting,  the  village  revel,  the 
dance  under  the  May-pole,  were  put  down  with  the  same 
indiscriminating  severity.  The  long  struggle  between  the 
Puritans  and  the  play-wrights  ended  in  the  closing  of  every 
theatre. 


Worjiey  an  Inchle  We  aver  a. 
man  ofierfonal  Valav. 


SATIRE   ON   THE   PURITANS. 

From  Messrs.   Goldsmid' s  facsimile  of  Cavalier 

playing  cards  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Nelson. 


Sec.  I 
England 

AND   THE 

Revolu- 
tion 


1290 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 

The 
Revolt 
of  the 
Restora- 
tion 

1663-1678 


The  Restoration  brought  Charles  to  Whitehall :  and  in  an 
instant  the  whole  face  of  England  was  changed.  All  that  was 
noblest  and  best  in  Puritanism  was  whirled  away  with  its  pettiness 
and  its  tyranny  in  the  current  of  the  nation's  hate.  Religion  had 
been  turned  into  a  system  of  political  and  social  oppression,  and 
it  fell  with  their  fall.  Godliness  became  a  by-word  of  scorn  ; 
sobriety  in   dress,  in  speech,  in    manners  was  flouted  as  a  mark 

of  the  detested  Puritanism. 
Butler  in  his  "  Hudibras " 
poured  insult  on  the  past  with 
a  pedantic  buffoonery  for 
which  the  general  hatred,  far 
more  than  its  humour,  secured 
a  hearing.  Archbishop  Shel- 
don listened  to  the  mock 
sermon  of  a  Cavalier  who 
held  up  the  Puritan  phrase 
and  the  Puritan  twang  to 
ridicule  in  his  hall  at  Lam- 
beth. Duelling  and  raking 
became  the  marks  of  a  fine 
gentleman  ;  and  grave  divines 
winked  at  the  follies  of 
"  honest  fellows,"  who  fought, 
gambled,  swore,  drank,  and 
ended  a  day  of  debauchery 
by  a  night  in  the  gutter.  Life 
among  men  of  fashion  vibrated 
between  frivolity  and  excess. 
One  of  the  comedies  of  the 
time  tells  the  courtier  that  "  he  must  dress  well,  dance  well,  fence 
well,  have  a  talent  for  love-letters,  an  agreeable  voice,  be  amorous 
and  discreet — but  not  too  constant."  To  graces  such  as  these  the 
rakes  of  the  Restoration  added  a  shamelessness  and  a  brutality 
which  passes  belief.  Lord  Rochester  was  a  fashionable  poet,  and 
the  titles  of  some  of  his  poems  are  such  as  no  pen  of  our  day  could 
copy.  Sir  Charles  Sedley  was  a  fashionable  wit,  and  the  foulness 
of  his  words  made  even  the  porters  of  Covent  Garden  pelt  him 


jiCouenantuwScot&anEn^lifh  In: 
dependent  dffir  ah  oiLty  things  oflhis 


n/cytJ 


SATIRE   ON   THE    PURITANS. 

From  Messrs.  Goldsmid' s  facsimile  of  Cavalier 
playing  cards  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Nelson. 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1291 


from  the  balcony  when  he  ventured  to  address  them.  The  Duke 
of  Buckingham  is  a  fair  type  of  the  time,  and  the  most  charac- 
teristic event  in  the  Duke's  life  was  a  duel  in  which  he  consum- 
mated his  seduction  of  Lady  Shrewsbury  by  killing  her  husband, 
while  the  Countess  in  disguise  as  a  page  held  his  horse  for  him 
and  looked  on  at  the  murder.  Vicious  as  the  stage  was,  it  only 
reflected  the  general  vice  of  the  time.  The  Comedy  of  the 
Restoration  borrowed  every- 
thing from  the  Comedy  of 
France  save  the  poetry,  the 
delicacy,  and  good  taste  which 
veiled  its  grossness.  Seduc- 
tion, intrigue,  brutality,  cynic- 
ism, debauchery,  found  fitting 
expression  in  dialogue  of  a 
studied  and  deliberate  foul- 
ness, which  even  its  wit 
fails  to  redeem  from  dis- 
gust. Wycherly,  the  popular 
play-wright  of  the  time,  re- 
mains the  most  brutal  among 
-all  writers  of  the  stage  ;  and 
nothing  gives  so  damning  an 
impression  of  his  day  as  the 
fact  that  he  found  actors  to 
repeat  his  words  and  audi- 
ences to  applaud  them.  Men 
such  as  Wycherly  gave  Milton 
models  for  the  Belial  of  his 
great     poem,     "  than     whom 

a  spirit  more  lewd  fell  not  from  Heaven,  or  more  gross  to 
love  vice  for  itself."  The  dramatist  piques  himself  on  the 
frankness  and  "  plain  dealing "  which  painted  the  world  as  he 
saw  it,  a  world  of  brawls  and  assignations,  of  orgies  at  Vaux- 
hall,  and  fights  with  the  watch,  of  lies  and  double-ententes,  of 
knaves  and  dupes,  of  men  who  sold  their  daughters,  and  women 
who  cheated  their  husbands.  But  the  cynicism  of  Wycherly 
was   no  greater  than    that   of  the   men  about  him  ;   and   in   mere 


L  cnihall rumvs  atvay  TUith 
TiiSiAfacc  to  the,  *Army. 


SATIRE   ON    THE    PURITAN'S. 

From  Messrs.  Goldsmid' s  facsimile  of  Cavalier 

playing  cards  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Xelson. 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 


1292 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 

The 
Earlier 
Change 


love  of  what  was  vile,  in  contempt  of  virtue  and  disbelief  in 
purity  or  honesty,  the  King  himself  stood  ahead  of  any  of  his 
subjects. 

It  is  however  easy  to  exaggerate  the  extent  of  this  reaction. 
So  far  as  we  can  judge  from  the  memoirs  of  the  time,  its  more 
violent   forms  were   practically  confined  to  the    capital    and    the 

court.  The  mass  of 
Englishmen  were  satis- 
fied with  getting  back 
their  May-poles  and 
mince-pies;  and  a  large 
part  of  the  people  re- 
mained Puritan  in  life 
and  belief,  though  they 
threw  aside  many  of 
the  outer  character- 
istics of  Puritanism. 
Nor  was  the  revolu- 
tion in  feeling  as  sud- 
den as  it  seemed. 
Even  if  the  political 
strength  of  Puritan- 
ism had  remained  un- 
broken, its  social  in- 
fluence must  soon  have 
ceased.  The  young 
Englishmen  who  grew 
up  in  the  midst  of 
the  civil  war  knew 
nothing  of  the  bitter 
tyranny  which  gave  its 
zeal  and  fire  to  the 
religion  of  their  fathers.  From  the  social  and  religious  anarchy 
around  them,  from  the  endless  controversies  and  discussions 
of  the  time,  they  drank  in  the  spirit  of  scepticism,  of  doubt, 
of  free  inquiry.  If  religious  enthusiasm  had  broken  the  spell  of 
ecclesiastical  tradition,  its  own  extravagance  broke  the  spell 
of    religious    enthusiasm ;    and    the    new    generation    turned    in 


S^.W.WaUer  hojes  two  Armys 
yet  y efts  by  y  haryame  . 


SATIRE    ON    THE    PURITANS. 

From   Messrs.  Goldsmid 's  facsimile  of   Cavalier  playing 

cards  in  the  possession  of  Earl  Nelson. 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1293 

disgust  to  try  forms   of  political  government  and  spiritual  belief      Sec.  i 
by   the    cooler    and    less    fallible    test    of   reason.      The    children     England 

AND   THE 

even  of  the  leading  Puritans  stood  aloof  from  Puritanism.  The  Revolu- 
eldest  of  Cromwell's  sons  made  small  pretensions  to  religion. 
Cromwell  himself  in  his  later  years  felt  bitterly  that  Puritanism 
had  missed  its  aim.  He  saw  the  country  gentleman,  alienated 
from  it  by  the  despotism  it  had  brought  in  its  train,  alienated 
perhaps  even  more  by  the  appearance  of  a  religious  freedom 
for  which  he  was  unprepared,  drifting  into  a  love  of  the  older 
Church  that  he  had  once  opposed.  He  saw  the  growth  of  a 
dogged  resistance  in  the  people  at  large.  The  attempt  to  secure 
spiritual  results  by  material  force  had  failed,  as  it  always  fails. 
It  broke  down  before  the  indifference  and  resentment  of  the  great 
mass  of  the  people,  of  men  who  were  neither  lawless  nor  enthu- 
siasts, but  who  clung  to  the  older  traditions  of  social  order,  and 
whose  humour  and  good  sense  revolted  alike  from  the  artificial 
conception  of  human  life  which  Puritanism  had  formed  and  from 
its  effort  to  force  such  a  conception  on  a  people  by  law.  It  broke 
down,  too,  before  the  corruption  of  the  Puritans  themselves.  It 
was  impossible  to  distinguish  between  the  saint  and  the  hypocrite 
as  soon  as  godliness  became  profitable.  Even  amongst  the  really 
earnest  Puritans  prosperity  disclosed  a  pride,  a  worldliness,  a 
selfish  hardness  which  had  been  hidden  in  the  hour  of  persecution. 
The  tone  of  Cromwell's  later  speeches  shows  his  consciousness  that 
the  ground  was  slipping  from  under  his  feet.  He  no  longer  dwells 
on  the  dream  of  a  Puritan  England,  of  a  nation  rising  as  a  whole 
into  a  people  of  God.  He  falls  back  on  the  phrases  of  his  youth, 
and  the  saints  become  again  a  "  peculiar  people,"  a  remnant,  a 
fragment  among  the  nation  at  large.  But  the  influences  which 
were  really  foiling  Cromwell's  aim,  and  forming  beneath  his  eyes 
the  new  England  from  which  he  turned  in  despair,  were  influences 
whose  power  he  can  hardly  have  recognized.  Even  before  the  The  Intel- 
outburst  of  the  Civil  War  a  small  group  of  theological  Latitu-  movement 
dinarians  had  gathered  round  Lord  Falkland  at  Great  Tew.  In 
the  very  year  when  the  King's  standard  was  set  up  at  Nottingham 
Hobbes  published  the  first  of  his  works  on  Government.  The  last 
royalist  had  only  just  laid  down  his  arms  when  the  little  company 
who  were    at   a   later    time    to   be  known   as   the    Royal    Society 


r,>/M./y.].\ii 


/•.  a 


/:»/,/>:,/,.<,/ M  ./,!>,/, •/>  ,t/«r,J6 


MONUMENT    TO    ROBERT    BURTON,    IN    CHRISTCHURCH    CATHEDRAL,    OXFORD. 


CHAP.   IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


gathered  round  Wilkins  at  Oxford.  It  is  in  this  group  of  scientific 
observers  that  we  catch  the  secret  of  the  coming  generation. 
From  the  vexed  problems,  political  and  religious,  with  which  it 
had  so  long  wrestled  in  vain,  England  turned  at  last  to  the 
physical  world  around  it,  to  the  observation  of  its  phenomena, 
to  the  discovery  of  the  laws  which  govern  them.  The  pursuit 
of  physical  science  became  a  passion  ;  and  its  method  of  research, 
by  observation,  comparison,  and  experiment,  transformed  the  older 


1295 


Sec.  I 
England 

AND    THE 

Revolu- 
tion 


ELIAS    ASHMOLE,    ESQ.,    WINDSOR    HERALD,    AND    WILLIAM    DUGDALE,    ESQ.,    NORROY 

KING-OF-ARMS. 
Sandford,   "  Funeral  of  Duke  of  Albemarle,"  1670. 


methods  of  inquiry  in  matters  without  its  pale.  In  religion,  in 
politics,  in  the  study  of  man  and  of  nature,  not  faith  but  reason, 
not  tradition  but  inquiry,  were  to  be  the  watchwords  of  the 
coming  time.  The  dead  weight  of  the  past  was  suddenly  rolled 
away,  and    the   new   England   heard  at   last  and   understood   the 

call  of  Francis  Bacon. 

-p  Begin- 

tf aeon   had  already   called    men  with  a  trumpet-voice  to  such    nines  of 

studies  ;  but  in  England  at  least  Bacon  stood  before  his  age.     The    Self  nee 


1296 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 


beginnings  of  physical  science  were  more  slow  and  timid  there 
than  in  any  country  of  Europe.  Only  two  discoveries  of  any  real 
value  came  from  English  research  before  the  Restoration  ;  the 
first,  Gilbert's  discovery  of  terrestrial  magnetism,  in  the  close  of 
Elizabeth's  reign  ;  the  next,  the  great  discovery  of  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  which  was  taught  by  Harvey  in  the  reign  of  James. 
Apart  from  these  illustrious  names  England  took  little  share  in  the 
scientific  movement  of  the  continent  ;  and  her  whole  energies 
seemed  to  be  whirled  into  the  vortex  of  theology  and  politics  by 


WILLIAM    HARVEY. 
From  the  engraving  by  J.  Hall,  after  the  picture  by  Cornelius  Janssen  at  the  Royal  College 

of  Physicians,  London. 


1645  the  Civil  War.  But  the  war  had  not  reached  its  end  when  a  little 
group  of  students  were  to  be  seen  in  London,  men  "  inquisitive," 
says  one  of  them,  "  into  natural  philosophy  and  other  parts  of 
human  learning,  and  particularly  of  what  hath  been  called  the 
New  Philosophy,  .  .  .  which  from  the  times  of  Galileo  at  Florence, 
and  Sir  Francis  Bacon  (Lord  Verulam)  in  England,  hath  been  much 
cultivated  in  Italy,  France,  Germany,  and  other  parts  abroad, 
as  well  as  with  us  in  England."  The  strife  of  the  time  indeed 
aided  in  directing  the  minds  of  men  to  natural  inquiries.  "  To 
have  been  always   tossing  about  some  theological  question,"  says 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1297 


the  first  historian  of  the  Royal  Society,  Bishop  Sprat,  "  would  have 
been  to  have  made  that  their  private  diversion,  the  excess  of  which 
they  disliked  in  the  public.  To  have  been  eternally  musing  on 
civil  business  and  the  distresses  of  the  country  was  too  melancholy 
a  reflection.     It  was  nature  alone  which  could  pleasantly  entertain 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 


DR.   JOHN     WILKINS    (BISHOP    OF    CHESTER). 
From  an  engraving  by  Blooteling,  after  a  picture  by  Mrs.  Beale 


them  in  that  estate."  Foremost  in  the  group  stood  Doctors  Wallis 
and  Wilkins,  whose  removal  to  Oxford,  which  had  just  been 
reorganized  by  the  Puritan  Visitors,  divided  the  little  company  into 
two  societies.  The  Oxford  society,  which  was  the  more  important 
of  the  two,  held  its  meetings  at  the  lodgings  of  Dr.  Wilkins,  who 
had  become  Warden  of  Wadham  College,  and  added  to  the  names 


1648 


1298 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  i  of  its  members  that  of  the  eminent  mathematician  Dr.  Ward,  and 

England  that  of  the  first  of  English  economists,  Sir  William  Petty.     "  Our 

AND    THE  &  J 

Revolu- 


tion 


DR.    JOHN     WALLIS. 
Painted  by  Kneller  at  the  order  of  Samuel  Pepys  for  Oxford  University. 


business,"  Wallis  tells  us,  "  was  (precluding  matters  of  theology  and 
State  affairs)  to  discourse  and  consider  of  philosophical  inquiries 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1299 


and  such  as  related  thereunto,  as  Physick,  Anatomy,  Geometry, 
Astronomy,  Navigation,  Statics,  Magnetics,  Chymicks,  Mechanicks, 
and  Natural  Experiments  :  with  the  state  of  these  studies,  as  then 
cultivated  at  home  and  abroad.  We  then  discoursed  of  the  cir- 
culation of  the  blood,  the  valves  in  the  vence  lactece,  the  lymphatic 
vessels,  the  Copernican  hypothesis,  the  nature  of  comets  and  new 


JOHN    FLAMSTEED,    FIRST   ASTRONOMER-ROYAL. 
Portrait  by  Gibson,  in  the  possession  of  the  Royal  Society. 

stars,  the  satellites  of  Jupiter,  the  oval  shape  of  Saturn,  the  spots 

in  the  sun  and  its  turning  on  its  own  axis,  the  inequalities  and 

selenography    of     the    moon,    the    several    phases    of  Venus    and 

Mercury,  the  improvement  of  telescopes,  the  grinding  of  glasses 

for  that  purpose,  the  weight  of  air,  the  possibility  or  impossibility 

of  vacuities,  and  Nature's  abhorrence  thereof,  the  Torricellian  experi- 
Vol.  Ill— 24  r 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 


CHAP.   IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


no  i 


ment  in  quicksilver,  the  descent  of  heavy  bodies  and  the  degree  of 
acceleration  therein,  and  divers  other  things  of  like  nature." 

The  other  little  company  of  inquirers,  who  remained  in 
London,  was  at  last  broken  up  by  the  troubles  of  the  Second 
Protectorate  ;  but  it  was  revived  at  the  Restoration  by  the  return 
to  London  of  the  more  eminent  members  of  the  Oxford  group. 
Science  suddenly  became  the   fashion  of  the  day.     Charles   was 


3    -.  I 

-AND 
AND    THE 

Revolu- 
tion 

The 

Royal 
Society 


i^rr^ 


SIGNATURES  OF  CHARLES  AS  FOUNDER  AND  JAMES  AS  FELLOW  OF  THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY. 

From  the  Charter  of  the  Society. 


himself  a  fair  chymist,  and  took  a  keen  interest  in  the  problems  of 
navigation.  The  Duke  of  Buckingham  varied  his  freaks  of  riming, 
drinking,  and  fiddling  by  fits  of  devotion  to  his  laboratory.  Poets 
like  Dryden  and  Cowley,  courtiers  like  Sir  Robert  Murray  and  Sir 
Kenelm  Digby,  joined  the  scientific  company  to  which  in  token  of 
his  sympathy  with  it  the  King  gave  the  title  of  "  The  Royal 
Society."     The  curious   glass  toys   called   Prince    Rupert's    drops 


CHAP.   IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


*3°3 


recall  the  scientific  inquiries  which,  with  the  study  of  etching, 
amused  the  old  age  of  the  great  cavalry-leader  of  the  Civil  War. 
Wits  and  fops  crowded  to  the  meetings  of  the  new  Society. 
Statesmen  like  Lord  Somers  felt  honoured  at  being  chosen  its 
presidents.  Its  definite  establishment  marks  the  opening  of  a 
great  age  of  scientific  discovery  in  England.  Almost  every  year 
of  the  half-century  which  followed  saw  some  step  made  to  a  wider 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 


1662 


SIR     ISAAC    NEWTON7. 
From  an  engraving  by  J.  Smith,  after  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller. 


and  truer  knowledge.  Our  first  national  observatory  rose  at 
Greenwich,  and  modern  astronomy  began  with  the  long  series 
of  astronomical  observations  which  immortalized  the  name  of 
Flamsteed.  His  successor,  Halley,  undertook  the  investigation  of 
the  tides,  of  comets,  and  of  terrestrial  magnetism.  Hooke  im- 
proved the  microscope,  and  gave  a  fresh  impulse  to  microscopical 
research.  Boyle  made  the  air-pump  a  means  of  advancing  the 
science  of  pneumatics,  and  became  the   founder  of  experimental 


i3°4 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 


chymistry.  Wilkins  pointed  forward  to  the  science  of  philology  in 
his  scheme  of  a  universal  language.  Sydenham  introduced  a 
careful  observation  of  nature  and  facts  which  changed  the  whole  face 
of  medicine.  The  physiological  researches  of  Willis  first  threw 
light  upon  the  structure  of  the  brain.  Woodward  was  the  founder 
of  mineralogy.  In  his  edition  of  Willoughby's  "  Ornithology,"  and 
in  his  own  "  History  of  Fishes,"  John  Ray  was  the  first  to  raise 
zoology  to  the  rank  of  a  science  ;  and  the  first  scientific  classifica- 
tion of  animals  was  attempted  in  his  "  Synopsis  of  Quadrupeds." 


WOOLSTHORPE    HOUSE,    LINCOLNSHIRE    (BIRTHPLACE    OF    SIR    ISAAC    NEWTON). 


Newton 
1642 


Modern  botany  began  with  his  "  History  of  Plants,"  and  the 
researches  of  an  Oxford  professor,  Robert  Morrison  ;  while  Grew 
divided  with  Malpighi  the  credit  of  founding  the  study  of  vegetable 
physiology.  But  great  as  some  of  these  names  undoubtedly  are, 
they  are  lost  in  the  lustre  of  Isaac  Newton.  Newton  was  born  at 
Woolsthorpe  in  Lincolnshire,  on  Christmas-day,  in  the  memorable 
year  which  saw  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.  In  the  year  of  the 
Restoration  he  entered  Cambridge,  where  the  teaching  of  Isaac 
Barrow   quickened  his    genius    for    mathematics,    and    where   the 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1305 


method  of  Descartes  had  superseded  the  older  modes  of  study. 
From  the  close  of  his  Cambridge  career  his  life  became  a  series  of 
great  physical  discoveries.  At  twenty-three  he  facilitated  the 
calculation  of  planetary  movements  by  his  theory  of  Fluxions. 
The  optical  discoveries  to  which  he  was  led  by  his  experiments 
with  the  prism,  and  which  he  partly  disclosed  in  the  lectures  which 
he  delivered  as  Mathematical   Professor  at   Cambridge,  were  em- 


Sec.  1 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 

1665 


CAST    OF    THE    HEAD    OF    SIR     ISAAC     NEWTON. 
In  possession  of  the  Royal  Society. 


bodied  in  the  theory  of  light  which  he  laid  before  the  Royal 
Society  on  becoming  a  Fellow  of  it.  His  discovery  of  the  law  of 
gravitation  had  been  made  as  early  as  1666  ;  but  the  erroneous 
estimate  which  was  then  generally  received  of  the  earth's  diameter 
prevented  him  from  disclosing  it  for  sixteen  years  ;  and  it  was  not 
till  the  eve  of  the  Revolution  that  the  "  Principia  "  revealed  to  the 
world  his  new  theory  of  the  Universe. 


1687 


1306 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 

The 

Latitudi- 
narians 


It  is  impossible  to  do  more  than  indicate,  in  such  a  summary 
as  we  have  given,  the  wonderful  activity  of  directly  scientific 
thought  which  distinguished  the  age  of  the  Restoration.  But  the 
sceptical  and  experimental  temper  of  mind  which  this  activity  dis- 
closed was  telling  at  the  same  time  on  every  phase  of  the  world 
around  it.      We  see  the  attempt  to  bring  religious  speculation   into 


JOHN     HALES. 

Frontispiece  to  his  "  Tracts,"  1677. 


harmony  with  the  conclusions  of  reason  and  experience  in  the 
school  of  Latitudinarian  theologians  which  sprang  from  the  group 
of  thinkers  that  gathered  on  the  eve  of  the  Civil  War  round  Lord 
Falkland  at  Great  Tew.  Whatever  verdict  history  may  pronounce 
on  Falkland's  political  career,  his  name  must  ever  remain  memor- 
able in  the  history  of  religious  thought.  A  new  era  in  English 
theology  began  with  the    speculations    of  the   men    he   gathered 


JX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


i3°7 


round  him.  Their  work  was  above  all  to  deny  the  authority  of 
tradition  in  matters  of  faith,  as  Bacon  had  denied  it  in  matters  of 
physical  research  ;  and  to  assert  in  the  one  field  as  in  the  other  the 
supremacy  of  reason  as  a  test  of  truth.  Of  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  its  Fathers,  and  its  Councils,  John  Hales,  a  canon  of 
Windsor,  and  a  friend  of  Laud,  said  briefly  "  it  is  none."      He  dis- 


Sec.  I 
England 

AND    THE 

Revolu- 
tion 


Hales 


CHILLING  WORTH. 
From  an  engraving  by  F.   Kyte. 


missed  with  contempt  the  accepted  test  of  universality.  "  Uni- 
versality is  such  a  proof  of  truth  as  truth  itself  is  ashamed  of. 
The  most  singular  and  strongest  part  of  human  authority  is 
properly  in  the  wisest  and  the  most  virtuous,  and  these,  I  trow,  are 
not  the  most  universal."  William  Chillingworth,  a  man  of  larger  Chilling- 
if  not  keener  mind,  had  been  taught  by  an  early  conversion  to 
Catholicism,  and  by  a  speedy  return,  the  insecurity  of  any  basis 


worth 


i3o8 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 
England 

AND    THE 

Revolu- 
tion 

Taylor 


for  belief  but  that  of  private  judgment.  In  his  "  Religion  of  Pro- 
testants "  he  set  aside  ecclesiastical  tradition  or  Church  authority 
as  grounds  of  faith  in  favour  of  the  Bible,  but  only  of  the  Bible  as 
interpreted  by  the  common  reason  of  men.  Jeremy  Taylor,  the 
most  brilliant  of  English  preachers,  a  sufferer  like  Chillingworth 


JEREMY    TAYLOR. 

Front  an  engraving  by  P.  Lombard. 


on  the  royalist  side  during  the  troubles,  and  who  was  rewarded  at 
the  Restoration  with  the  bishopric  of  Down,  limited  even  the 
authority  of  the  Scriptures  themselves.  Reason  was  the  one 
means  which  Taylor  approved  of  in  interpreting  the  Bible  ;  but 
the  certainty  of  the  conclusions  which  reason  drew  from  the  Bible 
varied,  as  he  held,  with  the  conditions  of  reason  itself.       In  all  but 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1309 


the  simplest  truths  of  natural  religion  "  we  are  not  sure  not  to  be 
deceived."  The  deduction  of  points  of  belief  from  the  words  of 
the  Scriptures  was  attended  with  all  the  uncertainty  and  liability 
to  error  which  sprang  from  the  infinite  variety  of  human  under- 
standings, the  difficulties  which  hinder  the  discovery  of  truth,  and 
the  influences  which  divert  the  mind  from  accepting  or  rightly 
estimating  it.  It  was  plain  to  a  mind  like  Chillingworth's  that  this 
denial  of  authority,  this  perception  of  the  imperfection  of  reason  in 
the  discovery  of  absolute  truth,  struck  as  directly  at  the  root  of 
Protestant  dogmatism  as  at  the  root  of  Catholic  infallibility.  "  If 
Protestants  are  faulty  in  this  matter  [of  claiming  authority]  it  is 
for  doing  it  too  much  and  not  too  little.  This  presumptuous  im- 
posing of  the  senses  of  man  upon  the  words  of  God,  of  the  special 
senses  of  man  upon  the  general  words  of  God,  and  laying  them 
upon  men's  consciences  together  under  the  equal  penalty  of  death 
and  damnation,  this  vain  conceit  that  we  can  speak  of  the  things 
of  God  better  than  in  the  words  of  God,  this  deifying  our  own  inter- 
pretations and  tyrannous  enforcing  them  upon  others,  this  restrain- 
ing of  the  word  of  God  from  that  latitude  and  generality,  and  the 
understandings  of  men  from  that  liberty  wherein  Christ  and  His 
apostles  left  them,  is  and  hath  been  the  only  foundation  of  all  the 
schisms  of  the  Church,  and  that  which  makes  them  immortal."  In 
his  "  Liberty  of  Prophesying  "  Jeremy  Taylor  pleaded  the  cause  of 
toleration  with  a  weight  of  argument  which  hardly  required  the 
triumph  of  the  Independents  and  the  shock  of  Naseby  to  drive 
it  home.  But  the  freedom  of  conscience  which  the  Independent 
founded  on  the  personal  communion  of  each  soul  with  God,  the 
Latitudinarian  founded  on  the  weakness  of  authority  and  the 
imperfection  of  human  reason.  Taylor  pleads  even  for  the 
Anabaptist  and  the  Romanist.  He  only  gives  place  to  the  action 
of  the  civil  magistrate  in  "  those  religions  whose  principles  destroy 
government,"  and  "  those  religions — if  there  be  any  such — which 
teach  ill  life."  Hales  openly  professed  that  he  would  quit  the 
Church  to-morrow  if  it  required  him  to  believe  that  all  that  dis- 
sented from  it  must  be  damned.  Chillingworth  denounced  perse- 
cution in  words  of  fire.  "  Take  away  this  persecution,  burning, 
cursing,  damning  of  men  for  not  subscribing  the  words  of  men  as 
the  words  of  God  :  require  of  Christians  only  to  believe  Christ  and 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 


1647 

The 
Latitudi- 
narian 
Theology 


1310 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  I 

England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 


The  later 

Latitudi- 

narians 


Hobbes 


to  call  no  man  master  but  Him  ;  let  them  leave  claiming  infallibility 
that   have  no  title  to  it,  and  let  them  that  in   their   own    words 

disclaim  it,  disclaim  it   also  in  their  actions Protestants  are 

inexcusable  if  they  do  offer  violence  to  other  men's  consciences." 
From  the  denunciation  of  intolerance  the  Latitudinarians  passed 
easily    to  the  dream  of  comprehension  which  had  haunted  every 
nobler  soul  since  the  "  Utopia  "  of  More.     Hales  based  his  loyalty 
to  the  Church  of  England  on  the  fact  that  it  was  the  largest  and 
the  most  tolerant  Church  in  Christendom.     Chillingworth  pointed 
out  how  many  obstacles  to  comprehension  were  removed  by  such  a 
simplification  of  belief  as  flowed  from  a  rational   theology.     Like 
More,  he  asked  for  "  such  an  ordering  of  the  public  service  of  God 
as  that  all  who  believe  the  Scripture  and  live  according  to  it  might 
without  scruple  or  hypocrisy   or    protestation    in    any    part    join 
in  it."      Taylor,   like  Chillingworth,   rested  his  hope  of  union  on 
the    simplification    of  belief.      He  saw  a   probability  of  error  in 
all   the    creeds    and   confessions  adopted   by  Christian    Churches. 
"  Such  bodies  of  confessions  and  articles,"  he  said,  "  must  do  much 
hurt."       "  He  is  rather  the  schismatic  who  makes  unnecessary  and 
inconvenient  impositions,  than  he  who  disobeys   them  because  he 
cannot    do    otherwise   without    violating    his    conscience."       The 
Apostles'  Creed  in  its  literal  meaning  seemed  to  him  the  one  term 
of   Christian   union  which   the    Church  had  any  right  to  impose. 
With   the    Restoration    the  Latitudinarians  came  at   once  to  the 
front.       They   were   soon    distinguished    from  both   Puritans  and 
High  Churchmen  by  their  opposition  to  dogma,  by  their  prefer- 
ence of  reason  to  tradition  whether  of  the  Bible  or  the  Church,  by 
their  basing  religion   on   a  natural  theology,    by  their  aiming  at 
Tightness  of  life  rather   than    at    correctness  of  opinion,  by  their 
advocacy   of  toleration    and    comprehension    as    the    grounds    of 
Christian  unity.     Chillingworth  and  Taylor  found  successors  in  the 
restless  good  sense  of  Burnet,  the  enlightened   piety  of  Tillotson, 
and  the  calm  philosophy  of  Bishop  Butler.    Meanwhile  the  impulse 
which  such  men  were  giving  to  religious   speculation  was  being 
given  to  political  and  social  inquiry  by  a  mind  of  far  greater  keen- 
ness and  power. 

Bacon's   favourite  secretary  was  Thomas   Hobbes.     "  He  was 
beloved  by  his  Lordship,"  Aubrey  tells  us,  "  who  was  wont  to  have 


— 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1311 


him  walk  in  his  delicate  groves,  where  he  did  meditate  ;  and  when  Sec.  i 
a  notion  darted  into  his  mind,  Mr.  Hobbes  was  presently  to  write 
it  down.  And  his  Lordship  was  wont  to  say  that  he  did  it  better 
than  any  one  else  about  him  ;  for  that  many  times  when  he  read 
their  notes  he  scarce  understood  what  they  writ,  because  they 
understood  it  not  clearly   themselves."     The  long  life  of  Hobbes   i5S8"I679 


England 

AND   THE 

Revolu- 
tion 


THOMAS    HOBBES. 
Picture  by  Michael  Wright,  in  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


covers  a  memorable  space  in  our  history.  He  was  born  in  the  year 
of  the  victory  over  the  Armada  ;  he  died,  at  the  age  of  ninety-two, 
only  nine  years  before  the  Revolution.  His  ability  soon  made 
itself  felt,  and  in  his  earlier  days  he  was  the  secretary  of  Bacon, 
and  the  friend  of  Ben  Jonson  and  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury.  But 
it  was  not  till  the  age  of  fifty-four,  when  he  withdrew  to  France  on 


1642 


^^^P^^^^f^M^T^^^ 


<u  .Too.  4t\.2^, 


TITLE-PAGE    OF    HOBBES'S     "LEVIATHAN,"     1651. 


chap,  ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1313 

the  eve  of  the  Great  Rebellion,  that  his  speculations  were  made      sec.  i 
known   to    the   world  in   his  treatise  "  De  Cive."     He  joined  the    England 

J  AND    THE 

exiled  Court  at  Paris,  and  became  mathematical  tutor  to  Charles     Revolu- 
tion 

the  Second,  whose  love  and  regard  for  him  seem  to  have  been  real 
to  the  end.  But  his  post  was  soon  forfeited  by  the  appearance  of 
his  "  Leviathan  "  ;  he  was  forbidden  to  approach  the  Court,  and 
returned  to  England,  where  he  seems  to  have  acquiesced  in  the  165 1 
rule  of  Cromwell.  The  Restoration  brought  him  a  pension  ;  but 
both  his  works  were  condemned  by  Parliament,  and  "  Hobbism  " 
became,  ere  he  died,  the  popular  synonym  for  irreligion  and 
immorality.  Prejudice  of  this  kind  sounded  oddly  in  the  case  of  a 
writer  who  had  laid  down,  as  the  two  things  necessary  to  salvation, 
faith  in  Christ  and  obedience  to  the  law.  But  the  prejudice  sprang 
from  a  true  sense  of  the  effect  which  the  Hobbist  philosophy 
must  necessarily  have  on  the  current  religion  and  the  current 
notions  of  political  and  social  morality.  Hobbes  was  the  first  His 
£reat    English    writer  who  dealt  with  the  science  of  government    **° '    . 

o  &  o  speciiia- 

from  the  ground,  not  of  tradition,  but  of  reason.  It  was  in  his  tions 
treatment  of  man  in  the  stage  of  human  development  which  he 
supposed  to  precede  that  of  society  that  he  came  most  roughly 
into  conflict  with  the  accepted  beliefs.  Men,  in  his  theory,  were 
by  nature  equal,  and  their  only  natural  relation  was  a  state  of  war. 
It  was  no  innate  virtue  of  man  himself  which  created  human 
society  out  of  this  chaos  of  warring  strengths.  Hobbes  in  fact 
denied  the  existence  of  the  more  spiritual  sides  of  man's  nature. 
His  hard  and  narrow  logic  dissected  everv  human  custom  and 
desire,  and  reduced  even  the  most  sacred  to  demonstrations  of  a 
prudent  selfishness.  Friendship  was  simply  a  sense  of  social 
utility  to  one  another.  The  so-called  laws  of  nature,  such  as 
gratitude  or  the  love  of  our  neighbour,  were  in  fact  contrary  to 
the  natural  passions  of  man,  and  powerless  to  restrain  them.  Nor 
had  religion  rescued  man  by  the  interposition  of  a  Divine  will. 
Nothing  better  illustrates  the  daring  with  which  the  new  scepti- 
cism was  to  break  through  the  theological  traditions  of  the  older 
world  than  the  pitiless  logic  with  which  Hobbes  assailed  the  very 
theory  of  revelation.  "  To  say  God  hath  spoken  to  man  in  a 
dream,  is  no  more  than  to  say  man  dreamed  that  God  hath  spoken 
to  him."     "  To  say  one  hath  seen  a  vision,  or  heard  a  voice,  is  to 


I3H 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec  I 


England 
and  THE 
Revolu- 
tion 


The 
Social 


say  he  hath  dreamed  between  sleeping  and  waking."  Religion,  in 
fact,  was  nothing  more  than  "  the  fear  of  invisible  powers  ; "  and 
here,  as  in  all  other  branches  of  human  science,  knowledge  dealt 
with  words  and  not  with  things.  It  was  man  himself  who  for  his 
own  profit  created  society,  by  laying  down  certain  of  his  natural 
rights  and  retaining  only  those  of  self-preservation.  A  Covenant 
Contract  between  man  and  man  originally  created  "  that  great  Leviathan 
called  the  Commonwealth  or  State,  which  is  but  an  artificial  man, 
though  of  greater  stature  and  strength  than  the  natural,  for  whose 
protection  and  defence  it  was  intended."  The  fiction  of  such  an 
"original  contract"  has  long  been  dismissed  from  political 
speculation,  but  its  effect  at  the  time  of  its  first  appearance  was 
immense.  Its  almost  universal  acceptance  put  an  end  to  the 
religious  and  patriarchal  theories  of  society,  on  which  Kingship 
had  till  now  founded  its  claim  of  a  Divine  right  to  authority  which 
no  subject  might  question.  But  if  Hobbes  destroyed  the  old 
ground  of  royal  despotism,  he  laid  a  new  and  a  firmer  one.  To 
create  a  society  at  all,  he  held  that  the  whole  body  of  the  governed 
must  have  resigned  all  rights  save  that  of  self-preservation  into  the 
hands  of  a  single  ruler,  who  was  the  representative  of  all.  Such  a 
ruler  was  absolute,  for  to  make  terms  with  him  implied  a  man 
making  terms  with  himself.  The  transfer  of  rights  was  inalienable, 
and  after  generations  were  as  much  bound  by  it  as  the  generation 
which  made  the  transfer.  As  the  head  of  the  whole  body,  the  ruler 
judged  every  question,  settled  the  laws  of  civil  justice  or  injustice, 
or  decided  between  religion  and  superstition.  His  was  a  Divine 
Right,  and  the  only  Divine  Right,  because  in  him  were  absorbed 
all  the  rights  of  each  of  his  subjects.  It  was  not  in  any  constitu- 
tional check  that  Hobbes  looked  for  the  prevention  of  tyranny, 
but  in  the  common  education  and  enlightenment  as  to  their  real 
end  and  the  best  mode  of  reaching  it  on  the  part  of  both  subjects 
and  Prince.  And  the  real  end  of  both  was  the  weal  of  the 
Commonwealth  at  large.  It  was  in  laying  boldly  down  this  end  of 
government,  as  well  as  in  the  basis  of  contract  on  which  he  made 
government  repose,  that  Hobbes  really  influenced  all  later  politics. 
Locke,  the  foremost  political  thinker  of  the  Restoration,  derived 
political  authority,  like  Hobbes,  from  the  consent  of  the  governed, 
and  adopted  the  common  weal  as  the  end  of  Government.     But 


John 
Locke 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1315 


the  practical  temper  of  the  time  moulded  the  new  theory  into  a  Sec.  i 

form   which  contrasted  strangely  with  that  criven  to  it  by  its  first  Emglam 

0        J                                                °                                                J  AND    TH1 

inventor.     The    political    philosophy  of   Locke    indeed    was    little  R!^JJ:U 


JOHN     LOCKE. 
From  G.   Verities  engraving  of  a  picture  by  Sir  Godfrey  Knellcr. 


more  than  a  formal  statement  of  the  conclusions  which  the  bulk  of 

Englishmen  had  drawn   from  the  great  struggle  of  the  Civil  War. 

In    his    theory  the    people    remain  passively  in  possession  of  the 

power    which    they    have    delegated    to  the  Prince,  and  have  the 
Vol.  Ill — 25 


1316 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE       chap.  ix. 


Sec  I 
England 

AND    THE 

Revolu- 
tion 


right  to  withdraw  it  if  it  be  used  for  purposes  inconsistent  with  the 
end  which  society  was  formed  to  promote.  To  the  origin  of  all 
power  in  the  people,  and  the  end  of  all  power  for  the  people's 
good — the  two  great  doctrines  of  Hobbes — Locke  added  the 
right  of  resistance,  responsibility  of  princes  to  their  subjects 
for  a  due  execution  of  their  trust,  and  the  supremacy  of  legislative 
assemblies  as  the  voice  of  the  people  itself.  It  was  in  this 
modified  and  enlarged  form  that  the  new  political  philosophy 
found  general  acceptance  after  the  Revolution  of  1688. 


A    GAME    OF    TENNIS. 
Cotnenius,  "  Orb  is  sensualium  pictus,"  English  Edition,  1659. 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


i3J7 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 


boys'   sports. 

Contemns,  "  Orbis  sensualium  pictus,"  English  edition,  1659. 


Section  II. — The  Restoration,  1660 — 1667 

[Authorities. — Clarendon's  detailed  account  of  his  own  ministry  in  his 
"  Life,"  Bishop  Kennet's  "Register,"  and  Burnet's  lively  "History  of  my  own 
Times,"  are  our  principal  sources  of  information.  We  may  add  fragments  of 
ihe  autobiography  of  James  the  Second  preserved  in  Macpherson's  "  Original 
Papers  "  (of  very  various  degrees  of  value).  For  the  relations  of  the  Church 
and  the  Dissenters,  see  Neal's  "  History  of  the  Puritans,"  Calamy's  "  Memoirs 
of  the  Ejected  Ministers,"  Mr.  Dixon's  "Life  of  William  Penn,"  Baxter's 
"  Autobiography,"  and  Bunyan's  account  of  his  sufferings  in  his  various  works. 
The  social  history  of  the  time  is  admirably  given  by  Pepys  in  his  "  Memoirs." 
Throughout  the  whole  reign  of  Charles  the  Second,  the  "Constitutional 
History"  of  Mr.  Hallam  is  singularly  judicious  and  full  in  its  information.] 


When  Charles  the  Second  entered  Whitehall,  the  work  of  the 
Long  Parliament  seemed  undone.  Not  only  was  the  Monarchy 
restored,  but  it  was  restored,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  Sir  Matthew 
Hale,  without  written  restriction  or  condition  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  though  with  implied  conditions  on  the  part  of  Charles 
himself;  and  of  the  two  great  influences  which  had  hitherto 
served  as  checks  on  its  power,  the  first,  that  of  Puritanism,  had 
become    hateful    to    the   nation    at    large,  while    the    second,    the 


The 

Restora- 

tion 


i3i8 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
I667 


HEAD    OF    THE    MACE    OF    THE    BAILIFF    OF 
JERSEY,    GIVEN    BY    CHARLES    II. 


tradition  of  constitutional 
liberty,  was  discredited  by 
the  issue  of  the  Civil 
War.  But  amidst  all  the 
tumult  of  demonstrative 
loyalty  the  great  "  revo- 
lution of  the  seventeenth 
century,"  as  it  has  justly 
been  styled,  went  steadily 
on.  The  supreme  power 
was  gradually  transferred 
from  the  Crown  to  the 
House  of  Commons.  Step 
by  step,  Parliament  drew 
nearer  to  a  solution  of  the 
political  problem  which  had 
so  long  foiled  its  efforts,  the 
problem  how  to  make  its 
will  the  law  of  administra- 
tive action  without  itself 
undertaking  the  task  of 
administration.  It  is  only 
by  carefully  fixing  our  eyes 
on  this  transfer  of  power, 
and  by  noting  the  succes- 
sive steps  towards  its  reali- 
zation, that  we  can  under- 
stand the  complex  history 
of  the  Restoration  and  the 
Revolution. 

The  first  acts  of  the 
new  Government  showed  a 
sense  that,  loyal  as  was 
the  temper  of  the  nation, 
its  loyalty  was  by  no 
means  the  blind  devotion 
of  the  Cavalier.  The  chief 
part  in  the  Restoration  had 
in     fact    been     played     by 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


*3*9 


the  Presbyterians  ;  and  the 
Presbyterians  were  still 
powerful  from  their  almost 
exclusive  possession  of  the 
magistracy  and  all  local 
authority.  The  first  minis- 
try which  Charles  ventured 
to  form  bore  on  it  the 
marks  of  a  compromise 
between  this  powerful  party 
and  their  old  opponents. 
Its  most  influential  member 
indeed  was  Sir  Edward 
Hyde,  the  adviser  of  the 
King  during  his  exile, 
who  soon  became  Earl 
of  Clarendon  and  Lord 
Chancellor.  Lord  South- 
ampton, a  steady  royalist, 
accepted  the  post  of 
Lord  Treasurer ;  and  the 
devotion  of  Ormond  was 
rewarded  with  a  duke- 
dom and  the  dignity  of 
Lord  Steward.  But  the 
purely  Parliamentary  in- 
terest was  represented  by 
Monk,  who  remained  Lord 
General  of  the  army  with 
the  title  of  Duke  of  Albe- 
marle ;  and  though  the 
King's  brother,  James,  Duke 
of  York,  was  made  Lord 
Admiral,  the  administra- 
tion of  the  fleet  was  vir- 
tually in  the  hands  of 
one  of  Cromwell's  fol- 
lowers, Montagu,  the  new 
Earl      of     Sandwich.      An 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 

The  Neiv 
Ministry 


HANDLE   OF   THE    MACE   OF  THE   BAILIFF   OF 
JERSEY,    GIVEN    BY   CHARLES    II. 


1320 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 


The 
Conven- 
tion 


Bill  of  In- 
demnity 


old  Puritan,  Lord  Say  and  Sele,  was  made  Lord  Privy  Seal. 
Sir  Ashley  Cooper,  a  leading  member  of  the  same  party,  was 
rewarded  for  his  activity  in  bringing  about  the  Restoration  first 
by  a  Privy  Councillorship,  and  soon  after  by  a  barony  and 
the  office  of  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer.  Of  the  two  Secre- 
taries of  State,  the  one,  Nicholas,  was  a  devoted  royalist ; 
the  other,  Morice,  was  a  steady  Presbyterian.  Of  the  thirty 
members  of  the  Privy  Council,  twelve  had  borne  arms  against 
the  King. 

It  was  clear  that  such  a  ministry  was  hardly  likely  to  lend 
itself  to  a  mere  policy  of  reaction,  and  the  temper  of  the 
new  Government  therefore  fell  fairly  in  with  the  temper  of  the 
Convention  when  that  body,  after  declaring  itself  a  Parliament, 
proceeded  to  consider  the  measures  which  were  requisite  for  a 
settlement  of  the  nation.  The  Convention  had  been  chosen  under 
the  ordinances  which  excluded  royalist  "Malignants"  from  the 
right  of  voting  ;  and  the  bulk  of  its  members  were  men  of  Presby- 
terian sympathies,  loyalist  to  the  core,  but  as  averse  to  despotism 
as  the  Long  Parliament  itself.  In  its  earlier  days  a  member  who 
asserted  that  those  who  had  fought  against  the  King  were  as  guilty 
as  those  who  cut  off  his  head  was  sternly  rebuked  from  the  Chair. 
The  first  measure  which  was  undertaken  by  the  House,  the  Bill  of 
Indemnity  and  Oblivion  for  all  offences  committed  during  the 
recent  troubles,  showed  at  once  the  moderate  character  of  the 
Commons.  In  the  punishment  of  the  Regicides  indeed,  a  Presby- 
terian might  well  be  as  zealous  as  a  Cavalier.  In  spite  of  a 
Proclamation  he  had  issued  in  the  first  days  of  his  return,  in  which 
mercy  was  virtually  promised  to  all  the  judges  of  the  late  King 
who  surrendered  themselves  to  justice,  Charles  pressed  for  revenge 
on  those  whom  he  regarded  as  his  father's  murderers,  and  the 
Lords  went  hotly  with  the  King.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  the 
Commons  that  they  steadily  resisted  the  cry  for  blood.  By  the 
original  provisions  of  the  Bill  of  Oblivion  and  Indemnity  only 
seven  of  the  living  regicides  were  excluded  from  pardon  ;  and 
though  the  rise  of  royalist  fervour  during  the  three  months  in 
which  the  bill  was  under  discussion  forced  the  House  in  the  end  to 
leave  almost  all  to  the  course  of  justice,  the  requirement  of  a 
special  Act  of  Parliament  for  the  execution  of  those  who  had 
surrendered   under  the  Proclamation  protected  the  lives  of  most 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1  3  2  I 


of  them.  Twenty-eight  of  the  King's  judges  were  in  the  end 
arraigned  at  the  bar  of  a  court  specially  convened  for  their  trial, 
but  only  thirteen  were  executed,  and  only  one  of  these,  General 
Harrison,  had  played  an)-  conspicuous  part  in  the  rebellion. 
Twenty  others,  who  had  been  prominent  in  what  were  now  called 
"  the  troubles  "  of  the  past  twenty  years,  were  declared  incapable 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora. 

TION 

1660 

TO 
1667 


STABLES    AT    MARPLE    HALL,    CHESHIRE. 

Built  by  the  Bradshaw  family,  1669. 

Earzvaker,  "East  Cheshire." 


of  holding  office  under  the  State :  and  by  an  unjustifiable  clause 
which  was  introduced  into  the  Act  before  its  final  adoption,  Sir 
Harry  Vane  and  General  Lambert,  though  they  had  taken  no  part 
in  the  King's  death,  were  specially  exempted  from  the  general 
pardon.     In   dealing  with  the  questions  of  property  which  arose 


1322 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
I667 

Settle* 

ment 

of  the 

Nation 


from  the  confiscations  and  transfers  of  estates  during  the  Civil 
Wars  the  Convention  met  with  greater  difficulties.  No  opposition, 
was  made  to  the  resumption  of  all  Crown-lands  by  the  State,  but 
the  Convention  desired  to  protect  the  rights  of  those  who  had 
purchased  Church  property,  and  of  those  who  were  in  actual 
possession  of  private  estates  which   had  been   confiscated  by  the 

Long    Parliament, 
or  by  the  Govern- 
ment  which    suc- 
ceeded    it.       The 
bills    however 
which     they    pre- 
pared for  this  pur- 
pose were  delayed 
by  the  artifices  of 
Hyde  ;  and  at  the 
close  of    the    ses- 
sion    the    bishops 
and     the     evicted 
royalists       quietly 
re-entered  into  the 
occupation  of  their 
old       possessions. 
The    royalists    in- 
deed     were       far 
from    being   satis- 
fied with  this  sum- 
mary confiscation. 
Fines  and  seques- 
trations   had    im- 
poverished all  the 
steady  adherents  of  the    royal  cause,  and   had    driven    many   of 
them  to  forced  sales  of  their  estates  ;   and  a  demand   was   made 
for   compensation    for  their   losses   and    the   cancelling   of    these 
sales.      Without    such    provisions,    said    the    frenzied    Cavaliers, 
the  bill  would   be  "  a  Bill  of  Indemnity  for  the  King's  enemies, 
and    of   Oblivion    for    his    friends."      But    here   the    Convention 
stood   firm.     All  transfers  of  property  by  sale  were    recognized 


A    BISHOP,    TIME    OF    CHARLES    II. 
After  IV.  Hollar. 


IX 


THE     RE 


- 


- 


as   valid,  and    all  -  -    - 

tration   were   barred   bv   the 
nation   the   Convention  p 

between  the  nation  and  the  -  :ional 

work  of  the  Long  Parl^ 
important  measures  were  - 
government.  Xot 
a  voice  demanded 
the  restoration 
the  Star  Chamber, 
}f  monopolis- 
er of  the  Court 
of  High  Comrr..-- 
n  ;  no  one  dis- 
puted the  justice 
of  the  condemna- 
tion of  Ship- 
money,  or  the  as- 
sertion of  the  sole 
right  of  Parliament 
to  grant  supplies 
to  the  Crown. 
The  Militia,  in- 
deed, was  placed 
in  the  King's 
hands  ;  but  the 
army  was  d  - 
banded,  though 
Charles  was  per- 
mitted to  keep  a 
few  regiments  for 
his  guard.      The  revenue       is  f  :  ~     ::<;   :■:■:  :     -    -. 

was    granted    to    the    K    ig  a    gran:  . 

been  perilous  for  freedom  fa  ad  to  si 

the   sum   fallen  constantly  belc  hlle  the  current 

expenses   of  the  Crown,  even  in  time  g  ceded 

it.     But  even  for  this  grant  a  he?, 
the  rights  of  the  Crown   over  lands  :ulk  of  Eng. 


II      >f     CHAJELLES 


::. 


11 

:  :•:•: 


1324 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP.   IX 


Sec.  II 

The 

Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 


The 

Cavalier 
Parlia- 
ment 


The 

Church 

.question 


estates   were    held,   in   military  tenure,   had   ceased   to  be  of   any 
great  pecuniary  value,  they  were  indirectly  a  source  of  consider- 
able  power.       The    right    of   wardship    and    of    marriage,    above 
all,  enabled  the  sovereign  to  exercise  a  galling  pressure  on  every 
landed    proprietor    in    his   social   and   domestic  concerns.     Under 
Elizabeth,   the    right    of   wardship   had   been   used   to    secure    the 
education  of  all  Catholic  minors  in  the  Protestant  faith  ;  and  under 
James  and  his  successor  the  charge  of  minors  had  been  granted 
to  court  favourites  or  sold  in  open  market  to  the  highest  bidder. 
But  the  real  value  of  these  rights  to  the  Crown  lay  in  the  political 
pressure  which  it  was  able  to  exert  through  them  on  the  country 
gentry.     A  squire  was  naturally  eager  to  buy  the  good  will  of  a 
sovereign  who  might  soon  be  the  guardian  of  his  daughter  and  the 
administrator  of  his   estate.     But  the  same  motives  which  made 
the  Crown  cling  to  this  prerogative  made  the  Parliament  anxious 
to  do  away  with  it.     Its  efforts  to  bring  this  about  under  James 
the  First  had  been  foiled  by  the  King's  stubborn  resistance  ;  but 
the  long  interruption  of  these  rights  during  the  wars  made  their 
revival  almost  impossible  at  the  Restoration.     One  of  the  first  acts 
therefore   of  the   Convention  was   to   free   the   country  gentry  by 
abolishing    the    claims    of    the    Crown    to    reliefs    and    wardship, 
purveyance,  and    pre-emption,   and    by    the    conversion    of    lands 
held    till  then    in    chivalry    into    lands    held    in   common   socage. 
In    lieu    of    his    rights,    Charles    accepted    a    grant    of    ;£  100,000 
a   year  ;    a    sum    which    it   was    originally  purposed    to    raise    by 
a  tax  on  the  lands   thus    exempted    from   feudal   exactions  ;    but 
which    was    provided    for    in    the    end,    with    less    justice,    by    a 
general   excise. 

Successful  as  the  Convention  had  been  in  effecting  the  settle- 
ment of  political  matters,  it  failed  in  bringing  about  a  settlement 
of  the  Church.  In  his  proclamation  from  Breda  Charles  had 
promised  to  respect  liberty  of  conscience,  and  to  assent  to  any  Acts 
of  Parliament  which  should  be  presented  to  him  for  its  security. 
The  Convention  was  in  the  main  Presbyterian  ;  but  it  soon  became 
plain  that  the  continuance  of  a  purely  Presbyterian  system  was 
impossible.  "  The  generality  of  the  people,"  wrote  Sharp,  a 
shrewd  Scotch  observer,  from  London,  "  are  doting  after  Prelacy 
and  the  Service  Book."     The  Convention,  however,  still  hoped  for 


TITLE-rAGE    OF    BOOK    OF    COMMON     PRAYER,    1002. 


1326 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


some  modified  form  of  Episcopalian  government  which  would 
enable  the  bulk  of  the  Puritan  party  to  remain  within  the  Church. 
A  large  part  of  the  existing  clergy,  indeed,  were  Independents, 
and  for  these  no  compromise  with  Episcopacy  was  possible :  but 
the  greater  number  were  moderate  Presbyterians,  who  were  ready 
"  for  fear  of  worse"  to  submit  to  such  a  plan  of  Church  govern- 
ment as  Archbishop  Usher  had  proposed,  a  plan  in  which  the 
bishop  was  only   the  president  of  a  diocesan  board  of  presbyters^ 

and  to  accept  the 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 


Liturgy  with  a 
few  amendments 
and  the  omission 
of  the  "  supersti- 
tious practices." 
It  was  to  a  com- 
promise of  this 
kind  that  the 
King  himself 
leant  at  the  be- 
ginning ;  and  a 
royal  declaration 
which  announced 
his  approval  of 
the  Puritan  de- 
mands was  read 
at  a  conference  of 
the  two  parties, 
and  with  it  a 
petition  from  the 
Independ  e  n  t s 
praying  for  religious  liberty.  The  King  proposed  to  grant  the 
prayer  of  the  petition,  not  for  the  Independents  only  but  for  all 
Christians  ;  but  on  the  point  of  tolerating  the  Catholics,  Church- 
men and  Puritans  were  at  one,  and  a  bill  which  was  introduced  into 
the  House  of  Commons  by  Sir  Matthew  Hale  to  turn  the  de- 
claration into  a  law  was  thrown  out.  A  fresh  conference  was 
promised,  but  in  the  absence  of  any  Parliamentary  action  the 
Episcopal  party  boldly   availed   themselves  of  their  legal   rights. 


MITRE    OF    BISHOP    WREN,    1660— 1667. 
Pembroke  College,  Cambridge. 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1327 


The  ejected  clergy  who  still  remained  alive 
entered  again  into  their  parsonages,  the 
bishops  returned  to  their  sees,  and  the 
dissolution  of  the  Convention  Parliament 
destroyed  the  last  hope  of  an  ecclesias- 
tical compromise.  The  tide  of  loyalty 
had  in  fact  been  rising  fast  during  its 
session,  and  its  influence  was  already  seen 
in  a  shameful  outrage  wrought  under  the 
very  orders  of  the  Convention  itself.  The 
bodies  of  Cromwell,  Bradshaw,  and  Ireton 
were  torn  from  their  graves  and  hung  on 
gibbets  at  Tyburn,  while  those  of  Pym 
and  Blake  were  cast  out  of  Westminster 
Abbey  into  St.  Margaret's  churchyard. 
But  in  the  elections  for  the  new  Parlia- 
ment the  zeal  for  Church  and  King  swept 
all  hope  of  moderation  and  compromise 
before  it.  "  Malignity"  had  now  ceased  to 
be  a  crime,  and  voters  long  deprived  of 
the  suffrage,  vicars,  country  gentlemen, 
farmers,  with  the  whole  body  of  the 
Catholics,  rushed  again  to  the  poll.  The 
Presbyterians  sank  in  the  Cavalier  Parlia- 
ment to  a  handful  of  fifty  members.  The 
new  House  of  Commons  was  made  up  for 
the  most  part  of  young  men,  of  men,  that 
is,  who  had  but  a  faint  memory  of  the 
Stuart  tyranny  of  their  childhood,  but  who 
had  a  keen  memory  of  living  from  man- 
hood beneath  the  tyranny  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. Their  very  bearing  was  that 
of  wild  revolt  against  the  Puritan  past. 
To  a  staid  observer,  Roger  Pepys,  they 
seemed  a  following  of  "  the  most  pro- 
fane, swearing  fellows  that  ever  I  heard 
in  my  life."  The  zeal  of  the  Parliament 
at  its  outset,  indeed,  far  outran  that 
of   Charles    or    his    ministers.      Though  it 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 

The 
Conven- 
tion 
Dissolved 
1660 


MACE  OF  THE   HOUSE   OF 

COMMON'S. 
New  head  and  base  made  1660. 

Antiquary. 


1328 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 

Parlia- 
ment 
of  1661 


Claren- 
don 


Corpora- 
tion Act 


confirmed  the  other  acts  of  the  Convention,  it  could  with  difficulty 
be  brought  to  confirm  the  Act  of  Indemnity.  The  Commons 
pressed  for  the  prosecution  of  Vane.  Vane  was  protected  alike  by 
the  spirit  of  the  law  and  by  the  King's  pledge  to  the  Convention 
that,  even  if  convicted  of  treason,  he  would  not  suffer  him  to  be 
brought  to  the  block.  But  he  was  now  brought  to  trial  on  the 
charge  of  treason  against  a  King  "  kept  out  of  his  royal  authority 
by  traitors  and  rebels,"  and  his  spirited  defence  served  as  an  excuse 
for  his  execution.  "  He  is  too  dangerous  a  man  to  let  live," 
Charles  wrote  with  characteristic  coolness,  "  if  we  can  safely  put 
him  out  of  the  way."  But  the  new  members  were  yet  better 
churchmen  than  loyalists.  A  common  suffering  had  thrown  the 
squires  and  the  Episcopalian  clergy  together,  and  for  the  first 
time  since  the  Reformation  the  English  gentry  were  ardent 
not  for  King  only,  but  for  Church  and  King.  At  the  opening 
of  their  session  the  Commons  ordered  every  member  to  receive 
the  communion,  and  the  League  and  Covenant  to  be  solemnly 
burnt  by  the  common  hangman  in  Westminster  Hall.  The 
bill  excluding  bishops  from  the  House  of  Lords  was  repealed. 
The  conference  at  the  Savoy  between  the  Episcopalians  and 
Presbyterians  broke  up  in  anger,  and  the  few  alterations  made 
in  the  Liturgy  were  made  with  a  view  to  disgust  rather  than 
to  conciliate  the   Puritan   party. 

The  temper  of  the  new  Parliament,  however,  was  not  a  mere 
temper  of  revenge.  Its  wish  was  to  restore  the  constitutional 
system  which  the  civil  war  had  violently  interrupted,  and  the 
royalists  were  led  by  the  most  active  of  the  constitutional  loyalists 
who  had  followed  Falkland  in  1642,  Hyde,  now  Earl  of  Clarendon 
and  Lord  Chancellor.  The  Parliament  and  the  Church  were  in  his 
conception  essential  parts  of  the  system  of  English  government, 
through  which  the  power  of  the  Crown  was  to  be  exercised  ;  and 
under  his  guidance  Parliament  turned  to  the  carrying  out  of  the 
principle  of  uniformity  in  Church  as  well  as  in  State  on  which  the 
minister  was  resolved.  The  chief  obstacle  to  such  a  policy  lay  in 
the  Presbyterians,  and  the  strongholds  of  this  party  were  in  the 
corporations  of  the  boroughs,  which  practically  returned  the 
borough  members.  An  attempt  was  made  to  drive  the  Presby- 
terians from  municipal  posts  by  a  severe  Corporation  Act,  which 
required  a  reception  of  the  Communion  according  to  the  rites  of 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1329 


the  Anglican  Church,  a  renunciation  of  the  League  and  Covenant, 
and  a  declaration  that  it  was  unlawful  on  any  grounds  to  take  up 
arms  against  the  King,  before  admission  to  municipal  offices.     A 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
I667 


EDWARD     HYDE,    EARL    OF     CLARENDON. 
From    an    original   engraving    by    David    Loggan. 


more  deadly  blow  was  dealt  at  the  Puritans  in  the  renewal  of  the      Act  of 
Act  of  Uniformity.     Not  only  was  the  use  of  the  Prayer-book,  and         i°yh 
the    Prayer-book    only,    enforced    in    all    public    worship,    but    an 
unfeigned  consent  and  assent  was  demanded  from  every  minister 


133° 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 


of  the  Church  to  all  which  was  contained  in  it  ;  while,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  Reformation,  all  orders  save  those  conferred  by  the 
hands  of  bishops  were  legally  disallowed.     The  declaration  exacted 


ANTHONY    ASHLEY    COOPER. 
From  the  painting  by  Sir  Peter  Lely  in  the  possession  of  the  present  Earl  of  Shaftesbury. 


from  corporations  was  exacted  from  the  clergy,  and  a  pledge  was 
required  that  they  would  seek  to  make  no  change  in  Church  or 
State.  It  was  in  vain  that  Ashley  opposed  the  bill  fiercely  in  the 
Lords,  that  the  peers  pleaded  for  pensions  to  the  ejected  ministers 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1331 

and    for   the   exemption   of   schoolmasters   from    the    necessity   of      sec.  ii 
subscription,  and   that  even   Clarendon,  who   felt  that  the  King's        The 

r  '  °  Restora- 

word  was   at   stake,  pressed  for  the  insertion   of  clauses  enabling 

1660 
the    Crown    to    grant    dispensations    from    its    provisions.      L very- 
suggestion  of  compromise  was   rejected    by  the    Commons  ;    and 
Charles  at  last  assented  to  the  bill,  while  he  promised  to  suspend 
its  execution  by  the  exercise  of  his  prerogative. 

The  Anglican  Parliament  however  was  resolute  to  enforce  St. 
the  law  ;  and  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  the  last  day  allowed  for  lomew's 
compliance  with  its  requirements,  nearly  two  thousand  rectors  and 
vicars,  or  about  a  fifth  of  the  English  clergy,  were  driven  from 
their  parishes  as  Nonconformists.  No  such  sweeping  alteration  in 
the  religious  aspect  of  the  Church  had  ever  been  seen  before.  The 
changes  of  the  Reformation  had  been  brought  about  with  little 
change  in  the  clergy  itself.  Even  the  severities  of  the  High 
Commission  under  Elizabeth  ended  in  the '  expulsion  of  a  few 
hundreds.  If  Laud  had  gone  zealously  to  work  in  emptying 
Puritan  pulpits,  his  zeal  had  been  to  a  great  extent  foiled  by  the 
restrictions  of  the  law  and  by  the  growth  of  Puritan  sentiment 
in  the  clergy  as  a  whole.  A  far  wider  change  had  been  brought 
about  by  the  Civil  War  ;  but  the  change  had  been  gradual,  and 
had  ostensibly  been  wrought  for  the  most  part  on  political  or  moral 
rather  than  on  religious  grounds.  The  parsons  expelled  were 
expelled  as  "  malignants  "  or  as  unfitted  for  their  office  by  idleness 
or  vice  or  inability  to  preach.  But  the  change  wrought  by  St. 
Bartholomew's  day  was  a  distinctly  religious  change,  and  it  was  a 
change  which  in  its  suddenness  and  completeness  stood  utterly 
alone.  The  rectors  and  vicars  who  were  driven  out  were  the  most 
learned  and  the  most  active  of  their  order.  The  bulk  of  the  great 
livings  throughout  the  country  were  in  their  hands.  They  stood 
at  the  head  of  the  London  clergy,  as  the  London  clergy  stood  in 
general  repute  at  the  head  of  their  class  throughout  England. 
They  occupied  the  higher  posts  at  the  two  L^niversities.  No 
English  divine,  save  Jeremy  Taylor,  rivalled  Howe  as  a  preacher. 
No  parson  was  so  renowned  a  controversialist,  or  so  indefatigable 
a  parish  priest,  as  Baxter.  And  behind  these  men  stood  a  fifth 
of  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy,  men  whose  zeal  and  labour  had 

diffused  throughout  the  country  a  greater  appearance  of  piety  and 
Vol.  Ill— 26 


och   .5cit«.p«it 


S.    MARGARET'S,    WESTMINSTER,    l692-I720 
From  an  engraving  by  /.  Brock. 


CHAP.  IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


!333 


religion  than  it  had  ever  displayed  before.  But  the  expulsion  of 
these  men  was  far  more  to  the  Church  of  England  than  the  loss  of 
their  individual  services.  It  was  the  definite  expulsion  of  a  great 
party  which  from  the  time  of  the  Reformation  had  played  the 
"most  active  and  popular  part  in  the  life  of  the  Church.  It  was 
the  close  of  an  effort  which  had  been  going  on  ever  since 
Elizabeth's  accession  to  bring  the  English  Communion  into  closer 
relations  with  the  Reformed  Communions  of  the  Continent,  and 
into  greater  harmony  with  the  religious  instincts  of  the  nation  at 
large.  The  Church  of  England  stood  from  that  moment  isolated 
and  alone  among  all  the  Churches  of  the  Christian  world.  The 
Reformation  had  severed  it  irretrievably  from  those  which  still 
clung  to  the  obedience  of  the  Papacy.  By  its  rejection  of  all  but 
episcopal  orders,  the  Act  of  Uniformity  severed  it  as  irretrievably 
from  the  general  body  of  the  Protestant  Churches,  whether 
Lutheran  or  Reformed.  And  while  thus  cut  off  from  all  healthy 
religious  communion  with  the  world  without,  it  sank  into  immo- 
bility within.  With  the  expulsion  of  the  Puritan  clergy,  all 
change,  all  efforts  after  reform,  all  national  development,  suddenly 
stopped.  From  that  time  to  this  the  Episcopal  Church  has  been 
unable  to  meet  the  varying  spiritual  needs  of  its  adherents  by  any 
modification  of  its  government  or  its  worship.  It  stands  alone 
among  all  the  religious  bodies  of  Western  Christendom  in  its 
failure  through  two  hundred  years  to  devise  a  single  new  service  of 
prayer  or  of  praise.  But  if  the  issues  of  St.  Bartholomew's  day 
have  been  harmful  to  the  spiritual  life  of  the  English  Church,  they 
have  been  in  the  highest  degree  advantageous  to  the  cause  of 
religious  liberty.  At  the  Restoration  religious  freedom  seemed 
again  to  have  been  lost.  Only  the  Independents  and  a  few 
despised  sects,  such  as  the  Quakers,  upheld  the  right  of  every 
man  to  worship  God  according  to  the  bidding  of  his  own 
conscience.  The  bulk  of  the  Puritan  party,  with  the  Presbyterians 
at  its  head,  was  at  one  with  its  opponents  in  desiring  a  uniformity 
of  worship,  if  not  of  belief,  throughout  the  land  ;  and,  had  the  two 
great  parties  within  the  Church  held  together,  their  weight  would 
have  been  almost  irresistible.  Fortunately  the  great  severance 
of  St.  Bartholomew's  day  drove  out  the  Presbyterians  from  the 
Church  to  which  they  clung,  and  forced  them  into  a  general  union 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 

Its 

religions 

results 


Its 
political 

results 


Cftle  J&reiuutt,    $  Yj^OlT^  Salterg-Hall  .  ^1 


One*  tv&Qr, 


***&.  an<4  &sy#    * -(7<f//'S p. \/frr  \\  &<n* 


n&i 


SATIRE    OX     PRESBYTERIAN     MINISTERS,    C.    1690— 1710. 
Print  in  British  Museum. 


CHAP.   IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1335 


with   sects  which  they  had  hated  till  then  almost    as    bitterly  as 

the    bishops  themselves.     A  common  suffering  soon  blended  the 

Nonconformists    into    one.      Persecution    broke    down    before    the 

numbers,  the  wealth,  and  the  political  weight  of  the  new  sectarians  ; 

and    the    Church,   for   the    first    time    in    its    history,   found    itself 

confronted  with  an  organised  body  of  Dissenters  without  its  pale. 

The    impossibility    of    crushing    such    a    body    as    this    wrested 

from      English      statesmen 

the    first    legal    recognition 

of  freedom    of   worship    in 

the    Toleration   Act  ;    their 

rapid  growth  in  later  times 

has  by  degrees  stripped  the 

Church    of   almost    all    the 

exclusive    privileges    which 

it     enjoyed    as    a    religious 

body,    and     now    threatens 

what  remains  of  its  official 

connexion   with    the    State. 

With    these  remoter  conse- 
quences    however    we     are 

not  as  yet  concerned.     It  is 

enough  to  note  here  that  with 

the  Act  of  Uniformity  and 

the  expulsion  of  the  Puritan 

clergy  a  new  element  in  our 

religious   and   political    his- 
tory, the  element  of  Dissent, 

the  influence  of  the  Nonconformist  churches,  comes  first  into  play. 
The  sudden  outbreak  and  violence  of  the  persecution  turned 
the  disappointment  of  the  Presbyterians  into  despair.  Many  were 
for  retiring  to  Holland,  others  proposed  flight  to  New  England 
and  the  American  colonies.  Charles  however  was  anxious  to  use 
the  strife  between  the  two  great  bodies  of  Protestants  so  as  to 
secure  toleration  for  the  Catholics,  and  revive  at  the  same  time  his 
prerogative  of  dispensing  with  the  execution  of  laws  ;  and  fresh 
hopes  of  protection  were  raised  by  a  royal  proclamation,  which 
expressed  the  King's  resolve  to  exempt  from  the  penalties  of  the 


ANooeamormiii  Minifte 

A     NONCONFORMIST     MINISTER. 

Tempest's  ''Cries  of  London."  icSS  — 1702. 


Sec.  II 

The 
Re>  . 

TION 

1660 

TO 
1667 


The 
Persecu- 
tion 


1336 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 

First 
Declara- 
tion of In- 
dulgence 

1662 


Conventi- 
cle Act 

1664 


1665 


Act,  "  those   who,  living    peaceably,  do    not    conform  themselves 
thereunto,  through  scruple  and  tenderness  of  misguided  conscience, 
but  modestly  and  without  scandal  perform  their  devotions  in  their 
own  way."    A  bill  introduced  in  1663,  in  redemption  of  a  pledge  in 
the  declaration  itself,  gave  Charles  the  power  to  dispense,  not  only 
with  the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  but  with  the  penalties 
provided  by  all  laws  which  enforced  religious  conformity,  or  which 
imposed    religious    tests.     But  if  the  Presbyterian  leaders  in  the 
council  had  stooped  to  accept  the  aid  of  the  declaration,  the  bulk 
of  the  Dissidents  had  no  mind  to  have  their  grievances  used  as  a 
means  of  procuring  by  a  side  wind  toleration  for  Roman  Catholics, 
or  of  building  up  again  that  dispensing  power  which  the  civil  wars 
had    thrown    down.     The    Churchmen,  too,  whose  hatred  for  the 
Dissidents  had  been  embittered  by  suspicions  of  a  secret  league 
between  the  Dissidents  and  the  Catholics  in  which  the  King  was 
taking   part,  were  resolute  in  opposition.     The  Houses  therefore 
struck    simultaneously   at    both    their    opponents.      They    forced 
Charles  by  an  address  to  withdraw  his  pledge  of  toleration.     They 
then  extorted  from  him  a  proclamation  for  the  banishment  of  all 
Catholic  priests,  and  followed  this  up  by  a  Conventicle  Act,  which 
punished   with  fine,  imprisonment,  and   transportation  on  a  third 
offence  all  persons  who  met  in  greater  number  than  five  for  any 
religious  worship  save  that  of  the  Common  Prayer  ;  while  return 
or   escape    from    banishment  was  punished  by  death.     The  Five 
Mile  Act,  a  year  later,  completed  the  code  of  persecution.     By  its 
provisions,  every  clergyman  who  had  been  driven  out  by  the  Act 
of   Uniformity  was   called    on  to  swear  that  he  held  it  unlawful 
under  any  pretext  to  take  up  arms  against  the  King,  and  that  he 
would    at    no    time  "  endeavour  any  alteration  of  government  in 
Church  and  State."     In  case  of  refusal,  he  was  forbidden  to  go 
within  five  miles  of  any  borough,  or  of  any  place  where  he  had 
been  wont  to  minister.     As  the  main  body  of  the  Nonconformists 
belonged  to  the  city  and  trading  classes,  the  effect  of  this  measure 
was  to  rob  them  of  any  religious  teaching  at  all.     A  motion  to 
impose   the    oath   of  the  Five  Mile  Act  on  every  person  in  the 
nation  was  rejected  in  the  same  session  by  a  majority  of  only  six. 
The  sufferings  of  the  Nonconformists  indeed  could  hardly  fail  to 
tell  on  the  sympathies  of  the  people.    The  thirst  for  revenge,  which 


JX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


had  been  roused  by  the  violence  of  the  Presbyterians  in  their  hour      s«cii 
of  triumph,  was  satisfied  by  their  humiliation  in  the  hour  of  defeat.     Ret;"oRA. 

TION 

I66O 

TO 
I667 


A    QUAKERS      MEETING    IN    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY. 
Satirical  print,  probably  by  Marcel  Laitron. 


The  sight  of  pious  and  learned  clergymen  driven  from  their  homes 
and  their  flocks,  of  religious  meetings  broken  up  by  the  constables, 
of  preachers  set  side  by  side  with  thieves  and  outcasts  in  the  dock, 


U3* 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH     PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
I667 


of  gaols  crammed  with  honest  enthusiasts  whose  piety  was  their 
only  crime,  pleaded  more  eloquently  for  toleration  than  all  the 
reasoning  in  the  world.  We  have  a  clue  to  the  extent  of  the 
persecution  from  what  we  know  to  have  been  its  effect  on  a  single 
sect.     The  Quakers  had  excited  alarm  by  their  extravagances  of 


RICHARD    BAXTER. 
Picture  by  J.  Riley,  in  Dr.  Williams  s  Library,  London. 


manner,  their  refusal  to  bear  arms  or  to  take  oaths  ;  and  a  special 
Act  was  passed  for  their  repression.  They  were  one  of  the 
smallest  of  the  Nonconformist  bodies,  but  more  than  four  thousand 
were  soon  in  prison,  and  of  these  five  hundred  were  imprisoned  in 
London  alone.  The  King's  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  twelve 
years  later,  set  free  twelve  hundred  Quakers  who  had  found  their 


being   afraid   to  lay  down   their  ministry         ![M'li|M'^: 


V^^^tfr 


TIO.V 

I66O 

TO 
1667 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1339 

way  to  the  gaols.     Of  the  sufferings  of  the  expelled  clergy  one  of      Sec.  ii 
their   own    number,    Richard    Baxter,   has    given    us    an    account.        The 

'  '  °  Restora- 

"  Many  hundreds  of  them,  with  their  wives  and  children,  had 
neither  house  nor  bread.  .  .  .  Their  congregations  had  enough  to 
do,  besides  a  small  maintenance,  to  help  them  out  of  prisons,  or  to 
maintain  them  there.  Though  they  were  as  frugal  as  possible  they 
could  hardly  live  ;  some  lived  on  little  more  than  brown  bread  and 
water,  many  had  but  eight  or  ten  pounds  a  year  to  maintain  a 
family,  so  that  a  piece  of  flesh  has  not  come  to  one  of  their 
tables  in  six  weeks'  time  ;  their  allowance  could  scarce  afford 
them  bread  and  cheese.  One  went  to  plow  six  days  and 
preached  on  the  Lord's  Day.  Another  was  forced  to  cut  tobacco 
for  a  livelihood."  But  poverty  was  the  least  of  their  sufferings. 
They  were  jeered  at  by  the  players. 
They    were    hooted    through    the    streets 


by   the   mob.      ':  Many   of   the  ministers, 

being   afraid   to  lay  down   their  ministry 

after     they    had    been     ordained    to    it,         Sc^'Cw  **  ' 

preached   to  such  as  would  hear  them  in         ^-ii^ 

fields  and   private  houses,  till   they  were 

apprehended  and   cast  into   gaols,  where 

r      ,  1  •    1        1  >>  tm  From  MS.   in  the  British 

many    of   them    perished.         lhey    were  Museum. 

excommunicated   in   the  Bishops'   Court, 

or  fined  for  non-attendance  at  church  ;  and  a  crowd  of  in- 
formers grew  up  who  made  a  trade  of  detecting  the  meetings 
they  held  at  midnight.  Alleyn,  the  author  of  the  well-known 
11  Alarm  to  the  Unconverted,"  died  at  thirty-six  from  the  suffer- 
ings he  endured  in  Taunton  Gaol.  Vavasour  Powell,  the  apostle 
of  Wales,  spent  the  eleven  years  which  followed  the  Restoration 
in  prisons  at  Shrewsbury,  Southsea,  and  Cardiff,  till  he  perished 
in  the  Fleet.  John  Bunyan  was  for  twelve  years  a  prisoner  at 
Bedford. 

"We  have  already  seen   the  atmosphere  of  excited   feeling    in       The 
which  the  youth  of  Bunyan  had  been  spent.     From  his  childhood    Prfg^s 
he   heard    heavenly   voices,  and  saw  visions  of  heaven  ;    from   his 
childhood,  too,  he  had  been  wrestling  with  an  overpowering  sense 
of  sin,  which  sickness  and  repeated  escapes  from  death  did  much 
as  he  grew  up  to  deepen.     But  in  spite  of  his  self-reproaches  his 


i34° 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  II 

The 

Restora- 
tion 

l66o 

TO 
1667 

J  645 


life  was  a  religious  one  ;  and  the  purity  and  sobriety  of  his  youth 
was  shown  by  his  admission  at  seventeen  into  the  ranks  of  the 
"  New  Model."  Two  years  later  the  war  was  over,  and  Bunyan 
though  hardly  twenty  found  himself  married  to  a  "  godly  "  wife,  as 
young  and  penniless  as  himself.  So  poor  were  the  young  couple 
that  they  could  scarce  muster  a  spoon  and  a  plate  between  them  ; 
and  the  poverty  of  their  home  deepened,  perhaps,  the  gloom  of  the 


BUNYAN  S    MEETING-HOUSE,    SOUTHWARK. 

Built  1687. 

"  Londina  IZlustrata." 


young  tinker's  restlessness  and  religious  depression.  His  wife  did 
what  she  could  to  comfort  him,  teaching  him  again  to  read  and 
write,  for  he  had  forgotten  his  school  learning,  and  reading  with 
him  in  two  little  "godly"  books  which  formed  his  library.  But  the 
darkness  only  gathered  the  thicker  round  his  imaginative  soul.  "  I 
walked,"  he  tells  us  of  this  time,  "  to  a  neighbouring  town  ;  and 
sate  down  upon  a  settle  in  the  street,  and  fell  into  a  very  deep 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


X3-H 


Sec.  II 


The 

Restora- 
tion 

l66o 

TO 
1667 


165; 


pause  about  the  most  fearful  state  my  sin  had  brought  me  to  ;  and 

after  long  musing  I  lifted  up  my  head  ;  but  methought  I   saw  as  if 

the  sun  that  shineth  in  the  heavens  did  grudge  to  give  me   light  ; 

and  as  if  the  very  stones  in  the  street  and  tiles  upon  the  houses  did 

band  themselves  against  me.     Methought  that  they  all  combined 

together  to  banish  me  out  of  the  world.     I  was  abhorred  of  them, 

and  wept  to  dwell  among  them,  because   I  had  sinned  against  the 

Saviour.     Oh,  how  happy  now  was  every  creature  over  I !   for  they 

stood  fast  and  kept  their  station.     But  I  was  gone  and   lost."     At 

last,  after  more  than  two  years  of  this  struggle,  the  darkness  broke. 

Bunyan  felt  himself  "  converted/'  and  freed  from   the  burthen  of 

his  sin.     He  joined  a  Baptist  church  at  Bedford,  and  a  few  years 

later  he  became  famous  as  a  preacher.     As  he  held  no  formal  post 

of   minister    in    the   congregation,    his  preaching  even   under   the 

Protectorate  was  illegal  and  "  gave  great  offence,"  he  tells  us,  "  to 

the  doctors  and  priests  of  that  county,"  but  he  persisted   with  little 

real  molestation  until  the  Restoration.     Six  months  however  after    Bunyan 

the  King's  return  he  was  committed  to  Bedford  Gaol  on  a  charge  of     *** 

preaching  in  unlicensed  conventicles  ;  and  his  refusal  to  promise  to 

abstain  from   preaching  kept  him   there    twelve  years.     The  gaol 

was  crowded  with  prisoners   like  himself,  and   amongst  them   he 

continued    his    ministry,    supporting    himself  by    making    tagged 

thread  laces,  and  finding  some  comfort  in  the  Bible,  the  "  Book  of 

Martyrs,"  and  the  writing  materials  which  he  was  suffered  to  have 

with  him  in  his  prison.     But  he  was  in  the  prime  of  life,  his  age 

was  thirty-two  when   he  was  imprisoned  ;  and  the  inactivity  and 

severance   from  his    wife    and    little    children    was    hard    to    bear. 

"  The  parting  with  my  wife  and   poor  children,"  he  says  in  words 

of  simple  pathos,   "  hath  often   been   to   me  in   this  place  as  the 

pulling  of  the  flesh  from  the  bones,  and  that  not  only  because  I 

am   somewhat  too   fond   of  those  great  mercies,  but  also  because 

I   should   have  often    brought    to  my  mind  the    many   hardships, 

miseries,  and  wants  that  my  poor  family  was  like  to   meet  with 

should  I  be  taken  from  them,  especially  my  poor  blind  child,  who 

lay  nearer  to  my  heart  than  all  besides.     Oh,  the  thoughts  of  the 

hardships    I  thought   my  poor  blind  one  might  go  under  would 

break  my  heart  to  pieces.     '  Poor  child,'   thought  I,  '  what  sorrow 

art  thou  like  to  have  for  thy  portion  in  this  world  !     Thou  must  be 


CHAP.   IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1343 


beaten,  must  beg,  suffer  hunger,  cold,  nakedness,  and  a  thousand 
calamities,  though  I  cannot  now  endure  the  wind  should  blow 
upon  thee.'  "  But  suffering  could  not  break  his  purpose,  and 
Bunyan  found  compensation  for  the  narrow  bounds  of  his  prison 
in  the  wonderful 
activity  of  his  pen. 
Tracts,  controver- 
sial treatises, 
poems,  medita- 
tions, his  "  Grace 
Abounding,"  and 
his  "  Holy  City," 
followed  each 
other  in  quick  suc- 
cession. It  was  in 
his  gaol  that  he 
wrote  the  first  and 
greatest  part  of 
his  "Pilgrim's  Pro- 
gress." Its  publi- 
cation was  the 
earliest  result  of 
his  deliverance  at 
the  Declaration  of 
Indulgence,  and 
the  popularity 
which  it  enjoyed 
from  the  first 
proves  that  the  re- 
ligious sympathies 
of  the  English 
people  were  still 
mainly        Puritan. 

Before  Bunyan's  death  in  1688  ten  editions  of  the  "  Pilgrim's 
Progress "  had  already  been  sold  ;  and  though  even  Cowper 
hardly  dared  to  quote  it  a  century  later  for  fear  of  moving  a 
smile  in  the  polite  world  about  him  its  favour  among  the  middle 
classes    and   the  poor  has  grown  steadily  from    its    author's    day 


BUNYAN  S     DREAM. 
Frontispiece  to  " Pilgrim's  Progress,"  4th  Edition,  1680. 


II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 
1667 
1672 


I344  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap 


1667 


sec.  11      to  our  own.      It  is  now  the  most  popular  and  the  most  widely 
the        known  of  all  English  books.     In  none  do  we  see  more  clearly  the 

Restora-  -j 

tion        new    imaginative  force    which    had    been    given    to    the    common 
life  of  Englishmen  by  their  study  of  the  Bible.     Its  English  is  the 
simplest  and  the  homeliest  English  which  has  ever  been  used   by 
any  great  English  writer  ;  but  it  is  the  English  of  the  Bible.     The 
images  of  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress"  are  the  images  of  prophet  and 
evangelist ;  it  borrows  for  its  tenderer  outbursts  the  very  verse  of 
the  Song  of  Songs,  and  pictures  the  Heavenly  City  in  the  words  of 
the     Apocalypse.     But    so    completely    has    the     Bible    become 
Bunyan's  life  that  one  feels  its  phrases  as  the  natural  expression 
of  his  thoughts.     He  has  lived   in  the  Bible  till  its  words    have 
become  his  own.     He  has  lived  among  its  visions  and  voices   of 
heaven  till  all  sense  of  possible  unreality  has  died  away.     He  tells 
his  tale   with   such   a   perfect  naturalness    that   allegories   become 
living  things,  that  the  Slough  of  Despond  and  Doubting  Castle  are 
as  real  to  us  as  places  we  see  every  day,  that  we  know  Mr.  Legality 
and  Mr.  Worldly  Wiseman  as  if  we  had  met  them  in  the  street. 
It  is  in  this  amazing  reality  of  impersonation  that  Bunyan's  imagin- 
ative genius  specially  displays  itself.     But  this  is  far  from  being  his 
only  excellence.     In  its  range,  in  its  directness/in  its  simple  grace,  in 
the  ease  with  which  it  changes   from   lively  dialogue   to  dramatic 
action,  from  simple  pathos  to  passionate  earnestness,  in  the  subtle 
and  delicate  fancy  which  often  suffuses  its  childlike  words,  in  its  play- 
ful   humour,  its  bold  character-painting,  in  the  even  and  balanced 
power  which  passes  without  effort  from  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow 
of  Death  to  the  land  "  where  the  Shining  Ones  commonly  walked, 
because  it  was  on  the  borders  of  heaven,"  in  its  sunny  kindliness 
unbroken  by  one  bitter  word,  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress"  is  among 
the    noblest  of  English  poems.     For  if  Puritanism  had   first  dis- 
covered the  poetry  which  contact  with  the   spiritual   world  awakes 
in   the   meanest  soul,  Bunyan  was  the  first   of  the   Puritans  who 
revealed  this  poetry  to  the  outer  world.     The  journey  of  Christian 
from  the   City  of  Destruction  to  the  Heavenly  City   is  simply  a 
record  of  the    life    of  such    a   Puritan    as    Bunyan    himself,   seen 
through   an  imaginative  haze   of  spiritual    idealism    in   which   its 
commonest  incidents  are  heightened  and  glorified.     He  is  himself 
the  pilgrim  who  flies  from  the  City  of  Destruction,  who  climbs  the 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1345 


hill  Difficulty,  who  faces  Apollyon,  who  sees  his  loved  ones  cross 
the  river  of  Death  towards  the  Heavenly  City,  and  how,  because 
"the  hill  on  which  the  City  was  framed  was  higher  than  the  clouds, 
they  therefore  went  up  through  the  region  of  the  air,  sweetly 
talking  as  they  went." 

The   success,    however,  of  the    system   of   religious   repression 
rested  mainly  on  the  maintenance  of  peace  ;  and    while   Bunyan    Holland 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 

The 
War  with. 


BABYLONIAN    STONE    FOUND    IN     KNIGHTRIDER    STREET,     LONDON. 

British  Museum. 


was  lying  in  Bedford  Gaol,  and  the  Church  was  carrying  on  its 
bitter  persecution  of  the  Nonconformists,  England  was  plunging 
into  a  series  of  bitter  humiliations  and  losses  abroad.  The  old 
commercial  jealousy  between  the  Dutch  and  English,  which  had 
been  lulled  by  a  formal  treaty  in  1662,  but  which  still  lived 
on  in  petty  squabbles  at  sea,  was  embittered  by  the  cession  of 
Bombay — a  port  which  gave  England  an  entry  into  the  profitable 
trade    with  India — and  by  the  establishment  of  a   West    Indian 


1346 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  11      Company  in  London  which  opened  a  traffic  with  the  Gold  Coast  of 
the        Africa.     The  quarrel  was  fanned  into  a  war.     Parliament  voted  a 

Restora-  * 

TION 

I66O 

TO 
I667 


STERN     OF    THE     "ROYAL    CHARLES. 
Taken  by  the  Dutch  in  1667. 
From  an  engraving  in  the  Museum  at  Amsterdam. 


large  supply  unanimously  ;  and  the  King  was  won  by  hopes  of  the 
ruin  of  the  Dutch  Presbyterian  and  republican  government,  and  by 
his  resentment  at  the  insults  he  had  suffered  from   Holland  in  his 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1347 


exile.  The  war  at  sea  which  followed  was  a  war  of  giants.  An 
obstinate  battle  off  Lowestoft  ended  in  a  victory  for  the  English 
fleet :  but  in  an  encounter  the  next  year  with  De  Ruyter  off  the 
North  Foreland  Monk  and  his  fleet  after  two  days'  fighting  were 
only  saved  from  destruction  by  the  arrival  of  Prince  Rupert.  The 
dogged  admiral  renewed  the  fight,  but  the  combat  again  ended  in 
De  Ruyter's  favour  and  the  English  took  refuge  in  the   Thames. 


Sec.  II 

The 

Restora- 

TION 

I66O 

TO 
1667 

I665 


FLEETS     OF     MONK    AND     RUYTER    IN    THE    CHANNEL,     l666. 
Print  published  at  Amsterdam,   1666. 


Their  fleet  was  indeed  ruined,  but  the  losses  of  the  enemy  had  been 

hardly  less.     "  English  sailors  may  be  killed,"  said  De  Witt,  "  but 

they  cannot  be  conquered  ; "  and  the  saying  was  as  true  of  one  side 

as  the  other.     A   third  battle,  as  hard-fought  as  its   predecessors, 

ended  in  the  triumph  of  the  English,  and  their  fleet  sailed  along 

the  coast  of  Holland,  burning  ships  and  towns.     But  Holland  was 

as  unconquerable    as    England  herself,  and  the    Dutch    fleet  was 

soon  again  refitted  and  was  joined  in  the  Channel  by  the  French 
Vol.  Ill— 27 


1666 


1348 


HISTORY  OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  ii      Meanwhile,  calamity  at  home  was  added  to  the  sufferings   of  the 
reItora-    war*     *n  *ne  Preceding  year  a  hundred  thousand  Londoners  had 


1660 

TO 
1667 


This  is  to  give  notice,  I  hat  His  Majefty  hath  declared  his  pofiiive 
refolution  not  to  heal  any  more  after  the  end  of  this  prefent  Afril 
until  Michaelmas  next  :  And  this  ispublifhed  to  the  end  tharaf] 
Perfons  concerned  may  take  nonce  thereof,  and  not  receive  adifap- 
pomtment\ 

London,  April  22. 


NOTICE    RELATING    TO    THE    PLAGUE. 
"  The  Intelligencer,"  April  24,  1665. 


died  in  six  months  of  the  Plague  which  broke  out  in  the  crowded 

Fire  of     streets  of  the  capital ;  and  the  Plague  was  followed  now  by  a  fire, 

on  on     which,  beginning  in  the  heart  of  London,  reduced  the  whole  city  to 


UNFINISHED    TAPESTRY    SAVED    FROM    THE    GREAT    FIRE,    l666,    IN    A    HOUSE    IN 

CHEAPSIDE. 
Guildhall  Museum. 


ashes  from  the  Tower  to  the  Temple.     Thirteen  thousand  houses 
and  ninety  churches  were    destroyed.     The  loss  of  merchandise 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1349 


and  property  was  beyond  count.  The  Treasury  was  empty,  and 
neither  ships  nor  forts  were  manned  when  the  Dutch  fleet  appeared 
at  the  Nore,  advanced  unopposed  up  the  Thames  to  Gravesend, 
forced  the  boom  which  protected  the  Medway,  burned  three  men-of 
war  which  lay  anchored  in  the  river,  and  withdrew  only  to  sail 
proudly  along  the  coast,  the  masters  of  the  Channel. 


Sec.  II 

The 
Restora- 
tion 

1660 

TO 
1667 

1667 


BURNING    OF    ENGLISH    SHIPS    AT    SHEERNESS,    1667. 
Contemporary  Dutch  print,  in  British  Museum. 


CHAP.  IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


i35i 


Section  III. — Charles  the  Second,   1667 — 1673 

[Authorities. —  To  the  authorities  already  mentioned,  we  may  add  the 
Memoirs  of  Sir  William  Temple,  with  Lord  Macaulays  well-known  Essay  on 
that  statesman,  Reresby's  Memoirs,  and  the  works  of  Andrew  Marvell.  The 
u  Memoirs  of  the  Count  de  Grammont,''  by  Anthony  Hamilton,  give  a  witty 
and  amusing  picture  of  the  life  of  the  court.  Lingard  becomes  important  from 
the  original  materials  he  has  used,  and  from  his  clear  and  dispassionate  state- 
ment of  the  Catholic  side  of  the  question.  Ranke's  "History  of  the  XVII. 
Century  ,:  throws  great  light  on  the  diplomatic  history  of  the  later  Stuart 
reigns  ;  on  internal  and  constitutional  points  he  is  dispassionate  but  of  less 
value.  Dalrymple,  in  his  ,;  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, ;;  was  the 
first  to  discover  the  real  secret  of  the  negotiations  with  France  ;  but  all  previous 
researches  have  been  superseded  by  those  of  M.  Mignet,  whose  "  Xegociations 
relatives  a  la  Succession  d'Espagne"  is  indispensable  for  a  knowledge  of  the 
time.] 


Sec.  Ill 

Charles 

the 
Second 

1667 

TO 
1673 


The  thunder  of  the  Dutch  guns  in  the  Medway  and  the  Thames     Charles 
woke  England  to  a  bitter  sense  of  its  degradation.     The  dream     second 
of   loyalty  was    over.     "  Everybody   now-a-days,"    Pepys   tells  us, 
"  reflect    upon    Oliver   and   commend    him,  what  brave  things    he 
did,  and  made  all  the  neighbour  princes 
fear   him."      But   Olivers  successor  was 
coolly  watching  this   shame  and  discon- 
tent of  his  people  with  the  one  aim   of 
turning  it    to    his    own    advantage.      To 
Charles    the   Second   the    degradation   of 
England  was  only   a   move   in   the    poli- 
tical   game    which    he    was    playing,    a 
game    played    with     so    consummate    a 
secrecy    and    skill    that    it    deceived    not 
only    the    closest    observers    of    his    own 
day  but  still  misleads  historians  of  ours. 

What  his  subjects  saw  in  their  King  was  a  pleasant,  brown- 
faced  gentleman  playing  with  his  spaniels,  or  drawing  caricatures 
of  his  ministers,  or  flinging  cakes  to  the  water-fowl  in  the  park. 


WATCH. 

English  ;  17th  century. 

South  Kensington  Museum. 


i352 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  hi     To  all  outer  seeming  Charles  was  the  most  consummate  of  idlers. 

Charles    "  He  delighted,"  says  one  of  his  courtiers,  "  in  a  bewitching  kind  of 

second     pleasure   called  sauntering."     The  business-like  Pepys   soon    dis- 
1667 

TO 
1673 


CHARLES    II. 
Miniature  by  S.   Cooper,  in  the  Royal  Collection  at   ll^indsor. 


covered  that  "  the  King  do  mind  nothing  but  pleasures,  and  hates 
the  very  sight  or  thoughts  of  business."  He  only  laughed  when 
Tom  Killigrew  frankly  told  him  that  badly  as  things  were  going 
there  was  one  man  whose  industry  could  soon  set  them  right,  "  and 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1353 

this  is  one  Charles  Stuart,  who  now  spends  his  time  in  using  his     Sec.  hi 

lips    about    the    Court,    and    hath    no    other    employment."     That     Charles 

Charles  had   great  natural  parts  no  one  doubted.      In   his   earlier      bECOND 
53  ^  1667 

days  of  defeat  and  danger  he  showed  a  cool  courage  and  presence 

of  mind  which  never  failed  him  in  the  many  perilous  moments  of        — - 

his    reign.     His    temper    was    pleasant    and    social,    his    manners 

perfect,    and    there    was    a   careless   freedom   and  courtesy  in    his 

address  which  won   over  everybody   who  came   into   his  presence. 

His  education  indeed  had  been  so  grossly  neglected  that  he  could 

hardly  read   a   plain   Latin   book  ;   but   his   natural   quickness  and 

intelligence  showed  itself  in  his  pursuit  of  chymistry  and  anatomy. 

and   in   the  interest   he   showed   in   the  scientific   inquiries    of  the 

Royal    Society.      Like    Peter   the   Great   his   favourite    study    was 

that  of  naval  architecture,  and  he  piqued  himself  on  being  a  clever 

ship-builder.     He  had  some  little  love  too  for  art  and  poetry,  and 

a  taste  for  music.     But  his  shrewdness  and  vivacity  showed  itself 

most  in  his  endless  talk.     He  was  fond  of  telling  stories,  and  he 

told  them  with  a  good  deal  of  grace  aud  humour.      His   humour 

indeed  never  forsook  him  :  even  on  his  death-bed  he  turned  to  the 

weeping  courtiers  around  and  whispered  an  apology  for  having  been 

so  unconscionable  a  time  in  dying.     He  held  his  own  fairly  with 

the  wits  of  his  Court,  and  bandied  repartees  on  equal  terms  with 

Sedley  or  Buckingham.     Even  Rochester  in  his  merciless  epigram 

was  forced  to  own  that  Charles  "never  said  a  foolish  thing."      He 

had  inherited  in  fact  his  grandfather's  gift  of  pithy  sayings,  and  his 

habitual   irony  often  gave  an   amusing  turn  to  them.     When   his 

brother,   the   most  unpopular  man   in   England,   solemnly  warned 

him  of  plots  against  his  life,  Charles  laughingly  bade  him  set  all 

fear  aside.     "They  will  never  kill   me,  James,"  he  said,  "to  make 

you  king."     But  courage  and  wit  and  ability  seemed  to  have  been 

bestowed  on  him   in  vain.     Charles  hated  business.      He  gave  to 

outer  observers  no  sign  of  ambition.     The  one  thing  he  seemed  in 

earnest  about  was  sensual  pleasure,  and  he  took  his  pleasure  with 

a    cynical    shamelessness    which   roused    the    disgust    even    of   his 

shameless  courtiers.     Mistress  followed  mistress,  and  the   guilt  of 

a  troop  of  profligate  women  was  blazoned  to  the  world  by  the  gift 

of    titles    and    estates.     The    royal    bastards    were    set    amongst 

English   nobles.     The   ducal  house  of  Grafton    springs   from    the 


1354 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  hi      King's  adultery  with  Barbara  Palmer,  whom  he  created   Duchess 
Charles     of  Cleveland.     The  Dukes  of  St.  Albans  owe  their  origin  to  his 

THE  ° 

Second 
1667 

TO 
1673 


NELL    GWYNN. 
Picture  by  Sir  Peter  Lely  at  Althorpe. 


intrigue  with  Nell  Gwynn,  a  player  and  a  courtezan.  Louise  de 
Querouaille,  a  mistress  sent  by  France  to  win  him  to  its  interests, 
became    Duchess  of  Portsmouth  and  ancestress  of  the    house  of 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1355 


Richmond.     An  earlier  mistress,  Lucy  Walters,  was  mother  of  a     Sec,  hi 
boy  whom  he  raised  to  the  Dukedom  of  Monmouth,  and  to  whom     Chtahr£es 
the  Dukes  of  Buccleuch  trace  their  line  ;  but  there  is  good  reason 
for    doubting    whether  the    King    was    actually    his    father.     But 


THE 

Second 
1667 

TO 
1673 


JAMES,    DUKE    OF    MONMOUTH. 
Miniature  by  Samuel  Cooper,  in  the  Royal  Collection  at  Windsor. 


Charles  was  far  from  being  content  with  these  recognized  mistresses, 
or  with  a  single  form  of  self-indulgence.  Gambling  and  drinking 
helped  to  fill  up  the  vacant  moments  when  he  could  no  longer  toy 
with  his  favourites  or  bet  at  Newmarket.     No  thought  of  remorse 


1356 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  Ill 

Charles 

the 
Second 

1667 

TO 
l673 


or  of  shame  seems  ever  to  have  crossed  his  mind.  "  He  could  not 
think  God  would  make  a  man  miserable,"  he  said  once,  "  only  for 
taking  a  little  pleasure  out  of  the  way."  From  shame  indeed  he 
was  shielded  by  his  cynical  disbelief  in  human  virtue.  Virtue  he 
regarded  simply  as  a  trick  by  which  clever  hypocrites  imposed 
upon  fools.  Honour  among  men  seemed  to  him  as  mere  a 
pretence  as  chastity  among  women.  Gratitude  he  had  none,  for 
he  looked  upon  self-interest  as  the  only  motive  of  men's  actions, 
and  though  soldiers  had  died  and  women  had  risked  their  lives  for 
him,  he  "  loved  others  as  little  as  he  thought  they  loved  him."     But 


A 


Form  of  PRAYER  with  THANKSGIVING 

to  be  ufed  yearly  upon  the  XXIX.  day  of  M/iTy 

Being  the  day  of  His  Majefties  Birth,  and  happy 

Return  to  His  Kingdoms. 


From  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  1662. 


The 
King's 
Policy 


if  he  felt  no  gratitude  for  benefits  he  felt  no  resentment  for  wrongs. 
He  was  incapable  either  of  love  or  of  hate.  The  only  feeling  he 
retained  for  his  fellow -men  was  that  of  an  amused  contempt. 

It  was  difficult  for  Englishmen  to  believe  that  any  real  danger 
to  liberty  could  come  from  an  idler  and  a  voluptuary  such  as 
Charles  the  Second.  But  in  the  very  difficulty  of  believing  this 
lay  half  the  King's  strength.  He  had  in  fact  no  taste  whatever 
for  the  despotism  of  the  Stuarts  who  had  gone  before  him.  His 
shrewdness  laughed  his  grandfather's  theory  of  Divine  Right  down 
the  wind,  while  his  indolence  made  such  a  personal  administration 
as  that  which  his  father  delighted  in  burthensome  to  him.     He  was 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION  1357 


too  humorous  a  man  to  care  for  the  pomp  and  show  of  power,  and      Sec,  hi 

too   good-natured  a  man  to   play  the  tyrant.     But  he   believed  as     Ch**£es 

firmly  as   his  father  or  his  grandfather  had  believed   in   the   older      Se^nd 
J  &  1667 

prerogatives  of  the  Crown  ;  and,  like  them,  he  looked  on  Parliaments         to 

^73 
with  suspicion  and  jealousy.     "  He  told  Lord  Essex,"  Burnet  says,        — 

"  that  he  did  not  wish  to  be  like  a  Grand  Signior,  with  some  mutes 

about  him,  and  bags  of  bowstrings  to  strangle  men  ;  but  he  did  not 

think  he  was  a  king  so  long  as  a  company  of  fellows  were  looking 

into    his    actions,    and    examining    his    ministers    as    well    as    his 

accounts."     "  A   king,"  he  thought,  "  who  might  be  checked,   and 

have    his    ministers    called    to    an    account,  was    but    a    king    in 

name."     In  other  words,  he  had   no   settled  plan  of  tyranny,  but 

he    meant    to    rule    as    independently  as    he   could,  and  from  the 

beginning  to  the  end  of  his  reign  there  never  was  a  moment  when 

he  was  not  doing  something  to  carry  out  his  aim.     But  he  carried 

it  out  in  a  tentative,  irregular  fashion  which  it  was  as  hard  to  detect 

as  to  meet.     Whenever  there  was  any  strong  opposition   he  gave 

way.      If  popular  feeling  demanded  the  dismissal  of  his  ministers, 

he    dismissed    them.     If   it    protested    against    his    declaration    of 

indulgence,  he  recalled  it.     If  it  cried  for  victims  in  the  frenzy  of 

the  Popish  Plot,  he  gave  it  victims  till  the  frenzy  was  at  an  end.  It 

was  easy  for  Charles  to  yield  and  to  wait,  and  just  as  easy  for  him 

to  take  up  the  thread  of  his  purpose  again  the  moment  the  pressure 

was    over.     The    one    fixed    resolve    which    overrode    every    other 

thought  in  the  King's  mind  was  a  resolve  "  not  to  set  out  on  his 

travels  again."     His  father  had  fallen  through  a  quarrel  with  the 

two  Houses,  and  Charles  was  determined  to  remain  on  good  terms 

with  the  Parliament  till  he  was  strong  enough  to  pick  a  quarrel  to 

his  profit.      He  treated  the  Lords  with  an   easy  familiarity  which 

robbed  opposition  of  its  seriousness.     ''Their  debates  amused  him," 

he  said  in  his  indolent  way  ;  and  he  stood  chatting  before  the  fire 

while    peer    after    peer    poured    invectives    on    his    ministers,    and 

laughed  louder  than  the  rest  when  Shaftesbury  directed  his  coarsest 

taunts  at  the  barrenness  of  the  Queen.     Courtiers  were  entrusted 

with  the  secret  "  management"  of  the  Commons  :  obstinate  country 

gentlemen  were  brought  to  the  royal  closet  to  kiss  the  King's  hand 

and    listen    to    the    King's    pleasant    stories    of   his    escape    after 

Worcester ;    and    still    more    obstinate    country    gentlemen    were 


1358 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  hi     bribed.     Where  bribes,  flattery,   and   management   failed,   Charles 
Charles     was    content   to    yield    and    to    wait   till    his    time    came    again. 

THE  J 

Second     Meanwhile  he  went  on  patiently  gathering  up  what  fragments  of 
1667 

TO 
1673 


JOHN     MAITLAND,    EARL    AND    DUKE    OF    LAUDERDALE 
Picture  by  Vandyck,  at  Ham  House, 


Dissolu-    the    old    royal    power    still    survived,    and    availing     himself    of 

^Urnon*  whatever   new    resources    offered    themselves.       If   he    could    not 

1660       undo  what   Puritanism   had  done  in   England,  he  could   undo   its 

work  in   Scotland    and    in  Ireland.     Before  the    Civil  War  these 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1359 


kingdoms  had  served  as  useful  checks  on  English  liberty,  and  by      Sec.  hi 
simply  regarding  the  Union  which  the  Long  Parliament  and  the     Charles 


the   Union  Charles  was  supported  by   public    opinion   among  his 

English  subjects,  partly  from  sheer  abhorrence  of  changes  wrought 

during  "  the  troubles,"  and  partly  from  a  dread  that  the  Scotch  and 

Irish    members    would  form    a    party  in   the    English    Parliament 

which  would  always  be  at  the  service  of  the  Crown.     In  both  the 

lesser  kingdoms  too  a  measure  which  seemed  to  restore  somewhat 

of  their  independence  was  for  the  moment  popular.     But  the  results 

of  this  step  were  quick  in  developing  themselves.     In  Scotland  the 

Covenant  was  at  once  abolished.     The  new  Scotch  Parliament  at 

Edinburgh,  the  Drunken  Parliament,  as  it  was  called,   outdid  the 

wildest  loyalty  of  the  English  Cavaliers  by   annulling   in  a  single 

Act   all  the  proceedings  of  its  predecessors  during  the  last  eight- 

and-twenty   years.     By  this   measure   the  whole   existing    Church 

system  of  Scotland  was  deprived  of  legal  sanction.     The  General 

Assembly  had  already  been  prohibited  from  meeting  by  Cromwell  ; 

the  kirk-sessions  and  ministers'  synods  were  now  suspended.     The 

Scotch  bishops  were  again  restored  to  their  spiritual  pre-eminence, 

and   to   their    seats   in   Parliament.      An   iniquitous  trial   sent   the 

Marquis  of  Argyle,  the  only   noble   strong  enough  to   oppose  the 

royal   will,  to  the  block,  and  the  government  was  entrusted   to  a 

knot  of  profligate  statesmen  till  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Lauderdale, 

one  of  the  ablest  and  most  unscrupulous   of  the  King's  ministers. 

Their  policy  was  steadily  directed  to  the  two  purposes  of  humbling 

Presbyterianism — as  the  force  which  could  alone  restore  Scotland 

to  freedom,  and  enable  her  to  lend  aid  as  before  to  English  liberty 

in  any  struggle  with  the  Crown — and  that  of  raising  a  royal  army 

which  might  be  ready  in  case  of  need  to  march   over  the  border 

to  the  King's   support.     In   Ireland   the   dissolution   of  the  Union 

brought  back  the  bishops  to  their  sees  ;  but  whatever  wish  Charles 

may  have  had  to  restore  the   balance  of  Catholic  and  Protestant 

as  a  source  of  power  to  the  Crown  was  baffled  by   the  obstinate 

resistance  of  the  Protestant  settlers  to  any  plans  for  redressing  the 

confiscations  of  Cromwell.     Five  years  of  bitter  struggle  between 

the  dispossessed  loyalists  and  the  new  occupants  left  the  Protestant 


THE 


Protector  had   brought  about  as  a  nullity   in   law  it   was   possible      Second 
they    might    become  checks   again.      In   his    refusal    to    recognize         to 


1673 


1360 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  hi     ascendency  unimpaired  ;  and    in  spite   of  a   nominal   surrender  of 
Charles     one-third  of  the  confiscated  estates  to  their  old  possessors,  hardly 

THE 

Second     a  sixth  of  the  profitable   land  in  the  island  remained  in  Catholic 
1667  r 

TO 
1673 


JAMES     BUTLER,    FIRST    DUKE    OF    ORMOND. 
From  an  engraving  by  Scriven,  after  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller. 


holding.  The  claims  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond  too  made  it 
necessary  to  leave  the  government  in  his  hands,  and  Ormond's 
loyalty  was  too  moderate  and  constitutional  to  lend  itself  to  any 
of  the  schemes  of  absolute  rule  which  under  Tyrconnell  played  so 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1361 


great    a  part   in   the   next   reign.     But   the  severance   of   the    two      sec.  hi 
kingdoms  from  England  was  in  itself  a  gain  to  the  royal  authority  ;     Charles 


THE 


and  Charles  turned  quietly  to  the  building  up  of  a  royal  army  at      Second 
home.     A  standing   army   had    become  so  hateful  a  thing  to  the         to 
body  of  the  nation,  and  above  all  to  the  royalists  whom  the  New        — 
Model  had  trodden  under  foot,  that  it  was  impossible  to  propose      Army 
its    establishment.     But  in   the   mind  of   Charles  and    his    brother 
James,   their   father's  downfall  had  been  owing  to  the   want  of  a 
disciplined   force  which  would  have  trampled  out  the  first  efforts 
of   national    resistance ;    and    while    disbanding    the    New    Model, 
Charles    availed   himself  of  the    alarm   created    bv   a   mad    rising: 
of   some   Fifth-Monarchy  men    in    London   under    an    old    soldier 
called  Venner  to  retain  five  thousand  horse  and  foot  in  his  service 
under  the  name  of  his  guards.     A  body  of  "  gentlemen  of  quality 
and  veteran  soldiers,  excellently  clad,  mounted,  and  ordered."  was 
thus  kept  ready  for  service  near  the  royal  person  ;  and  in  spite  of 
the    scandal   which  it    aroused    the    King    persisted,    steadily    but 
cautiously,    in  gradually    increasing   its    numbers.     Twenty    years 
later    it  had  grown   to  a   force   of   seven    thousand   foot  and  one 
thousand    seven    hundred  horse  and    dragoons    at    home,    with    a 
reserve  of  six  fine  regiments  abroad  in  the   service  of  the  United 
Provinces. 

But  Charles  was  too  quick-witted  a  man  to  believe,  as  his  Charles 
brother  James  believed,  that  it  was  possible  to  break  down  France 
English  freedom  by  the  royal  power  or  by  a  few  thousand  men 
in  arms.  It  was  still  less  possible  by  such  means  to  break  down, 
as  he  wished  to  break  down,  English  Protestantism.  In  heart, 
whether  the  story  of  his  renunciation  of  Protestantism  during 
his  exile  be  true  or  no,  he  had  long  ceased  to  be  a  Protestant. 
Whatever  religious  feeling  he  had  was  on  the  side  of  Catholicism  ; 
he  encouraged  conversions  among  his  courtiers,  and  the  last  act 
of  his  life  was  to  seek  formal  admission  into  the  Roman  Church. 
But  his  feelings  were  rather  political  than  religious.  The  English 
Roman  Catholics  formed  a  far  larger  part  of  the  population  then 
than  now  ;  their  wealth  and  local  influence  gave  them  a  political 
importance  which  they  have  long  since  lost,  and  every  motive  of 
gratitude  as  well  as  self-interest  led  him  to  redeem  his  pledge  to 
procure  toleration  for  their  worship.     But  he  was  already  looking, 


CHAP.   IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


*3t>3 


however  vaguely,  to  something  more  than  Catholic  toleration.  He 
saw  that  despotism  in  the  State  could  hardly  co-exist  with  free 
inquiry  and  free  action  in  matters  of  the  conscience,  and  that  govern- 
ment, in  his  own  words,  "  was  a  safer  and  easier  thing  where  the 
authority  was  believed  infallible  and  the  faith  and  submission  of 
the  people  were  implicit."  The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  such  a 
religious  change  probably  seemed  the  less  to  him  from  his  long 
residence  in  Roman  Catholic  countries,  and  from  his  own  religious 
scepticism.  Two  years  indeed  after  his  restoration  he  had  already 
despatched  an  agent  to  Rome  to  arrange  the  terms  of  a  recon- 
ciliation between  the  Anglican  Church  and  the  Papacy.  But 
though  he  counted  much  for  the  success  of  his  project  of  toleration 
on  taking  advantage  of  the  dissensions  between  Protestant 
Churchmen  and  Protestant  Dissenters  he  soon  discovered  that 
for  any  real  success  in  his  political  or  religious  aims  he  must 
seek  resources  elsewhere  than  at  home.  At  this  moment  France 
was  the  dominant  power  in  Europe.  Its  young  King,  Lewis 
the  Fourteenth,  was  the  champion  of  Catholicism  and  despotism 
against  civil  and  religious  liberty  throughout  the  world.  France 
was  the  wealthiest  of  European  powers,  and  her  subsidies  could 
free  Charles  from  dependence  on  his  Parliament.  Her  army  was 
the  finest  in  the  world,  and  French  soldiers  could  put  down,  it 
was  thought,  any  resistance  from  English  patriots.  The  aid  of 
Lewis  could  alone  realize  the  aims  of  Charles,  and  Charles  was 
willing  to  pay  the  price  which  Lewis  demanded  for  his  aid,  the 
price  of  concurrence  in  his  designs  on  Spain.  Spain  at  this 
moment  had  not  only  ceased  to  threaten  Europe  but  herself 
trembled  at  the  threats  of  France  ;  and  the  aim  of  Lewis  was  to 
complete  her  ruin,  to  win  the  Spanish  provinces  in  the  Nether- 
lands, and  ultimately  to  secure  the  succession  to  the  Spanish 
throne  for  a  French  prince.  But  the  presence  of  the  French  in 
Flanders  was  equally  distasteful  to  England  and  to  Holland, 
and  in  such  a  contest  Spain  might  hope  for  the  aid  of  these 
states  and  of  the  Empire.  For  some  years  Lewis  contented 
himself  with  perfecting  his  army  and  preparing  by  skilful 
negotiations  to  make  such  a  league  of  the  great  powers  against 
him    impossible.      His    first     success    in     England    was     in    the 

marriage    of  the    King.     Portugal,  which    had    only   just    shaken 
Vol.  Ill— 28 


Sec.  Ill 

Charles 

the 
Second 

1667 

TO 
1673 

Charles 

and 
Catholic- 


Marriage 
of  Charles 


1364 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE         chap,  ix 


Sec.  Ill 

Charles 

the 
Second 

1667 

TO 
1673 


off  the  rule  of  Spain,  was  really  dependent  upon  France  ;  and 
in  accepting  the  hand  of  Catharine  of  Braganza  in  spite  of  the 
protests    of    Spain,    Charles     announced     his    adhesion     to     the 


THE    COMTE    D'ESTRADES,    AMBASSADOR    OF    FRANCE    IN     ENGLAND,    l66l. 

Jusserand,    "  A   French  Ambassador   at   the   Court   of   Charles    II.",  from  an  engraving  by 

Etienne  Picart. 


alliance  of  Lewis.  Already  English  opinion  saw  the  danger 
of  such  a  course,  and  veered  round  to  the  Spanish  side.  As 
early  as  1661  the  London  mob  backed  the  Spanish  ambassador 
in    a    street    squabble    for   precedence    with    the    ambassador    of 


S3 


1 1 


t*I 


1366  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE  chap. 


Sec.  hi      France.     "  We    do  all   naturally    love   the    Spanish,"    says    Pepys, 
Charles     "  and    hate    the   French."     The    marriage    of   Catharine,   the    sale 

THE  r*  T" 

Second  0f  Dunkirk,  the  one  result  of  Cromwell's  victories,  to  France, 
to  aroused  the  national  jealousy  and  suspicion  of  French  influence  ; 
]_Z-3  and  the  war  with  Holland  seemed  at  one  time  likely  to  end  in 
a  war  with  Lewis.  The  Dutch  war  was  in  itself  a  serious 
stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  French  projects.  To  aid  either 
side  was  to  throw  the  other  on  the  aid  of  the  House  of  Austria, 
and  to  build  up  a  league  which  would  check  France  in  its  aim. 
Only  peace  could  keep  the  European  states  disunited,  and  enable 
Lewis  by  their  disunion  to  carry  out  his  design  of  seizing  Flanders. 
1665  His  attempt  at  mediation  was  fruitless  ;  the  defeat  of  Lowestoft 
forced  him  to  give  aid  to  Holland,  and  the  news  of  his  purpose 
at  once  roused  England  to  a  hope  of  war.  When  Charles 
announced  it  to  the  Houses,  "  there  was  a  great  noise,"  says 
Louvois,  "  in  the  Parliament  to  show  the  joy  of  the  two  Houses 
at  the  prospect  of  a  fight  with  us."  Lewis,  however,  cautiously 
limited  his  efforts  to  narrowing  the  contest  to  a  struggle  at  sea, 
while  England,  vexed  with  disasters  at  home  and  abroad,  could 
scarcely  maintain   the  war.     The  appearance   of  the   Dutch  fleet 

Peace  of    in  the  Thames  was  followed  by  the  sudden  conclusion  of  peace 
™  a      which   again  left  the  ground  clear   for   the    diplomatic    intrigues 

of  Lewis. 
The  In  England  the  irritation  was  great  and  universal,  but  the  public 

Claren-  resentment  fell  on  Clarendon  alone.  Charles  had  been  bitterly 
don  angered  when  in  1663  his  bill  to  vest  a  dispensing  power  in  the 
Crown  had  been  met  by  Clarendon's  open  opposition.  The  Presby- 
terian party,  represented  by  Ashley,  and  the  Catholics,  led  by  the 
Earl  of  Bristol,  alike  sought  his  overthrow  ;  in  the  Court  he  was 
opposed  by  Bennet,  afterwards  Earl  of  Arlington,  a  creature  of 
the  King's.  But  Clarendon  was  still  strong  in  his  intimate  con- 
nexion with  the  King's  affairs,  in  the  marriage  of  his  daughter, 
Anne  Hyde,  to  the  Duke  of  York,  in  his  capacity  for  business, 
above  all  in  the  support  of  the  Church,  and  the  confidence  of 
the  royalist  and  orthodox  House  of  Commons.  Foiled  in  their 
efforts  to  displace  him,  his  rivals  had  availed  themselves  of  the 
jealousy  of  the  merchant-class  to  drive  him  against  his  will  into 
the  war  with   Holland  ;  and  though  the  Chancellor  succeeded  in 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1367 

forcing    the   Five   Mile  Act  through  the    Houses  in   the   teeth    of     Sec.  hi 
Ashley's  protests,  the  calculations  of  his  enemies  were  soon  verified.     Charles 

The  union  between  Clarendon  and  the  Parliament  was  broken  bv      Second 

1  1  l66~ 

the  war.     The    Parliament    was    enraged    by   his    counsel    for    its 

dissolution,  and  by  his  proposal  to  raise  troops  without  a  Parlia-        — - 

mentary  grant,  and  his  opposition  to  the  inspection  of  accounts,  in 

which  they  saw  an  attempt  to  re-establish  the  one  thing  they  hated 

most,  a  standing  army.     Charles  could   at   last  free  himself  from 

the  minister  who  had  held  him  in  check  so  long  ;  the  Chancellor 

was  dismissed   from  office,  and  driven  to   take   refuge    in   France. 

By  the   exile   of   Clarendon,  the  death  of  Southampton,  and   the 

retirement  of  Ormond   and   Nicholas,   the   party   of  constitutional 

loyalists   in   the   Council   ceased   to   exist  ;    and   the  section  which 

had    originally    represented    the  Presbyterians,   and    which  under 

the   guidance  of  Ashley  had  bent  to  purchase  toleration  even  at 

the    cost    of  increasing    the    prerogatives   of  the  Crown,  came    to 

the   front  of  affairs.     The  religious  policy   of  Charles  had  as  yet   The  Cabal 

been   defeated    by   the  sturdy  Churchmanship  of  the  Parliament, 

the  influence  of  Clarendon,  and  the  reluctance  of  the  Presbyterians 

as  a  body   to  accept   the   Royal   "  indulgence  "   at   the  price   of  a 

toleration   of  Catholicism  and  a  recognition   of  the  King's  power 

to  dispense   with   Parliamentary  statutes.     The  first  steps  of   the 

new    ministry     in     releasing     Nonconformists     from     prison,     in 

suffering    conventicles  to   reopen,    and    suspending   the    operation 

of  the  Act  of  Uniformity,   were   in   open   defiance  of  the  known 

will    of  the  two   Houses.     But  when   Charles    again    proposed    to        1668 

his   counsellors    a   general   toleration   he   no  longer  found   himself 

supported  by  them  as  in  1663.     Even  Ashley's  mood  was  changed. 

Instead  of  toleration  they  pressed  for  a  union  of  Protestants  which 

would  have  utterly  foiled   the  King's  projects  ;  and   a   scheme  of 

Protestant    comprehension    which    had    been    approved    by    the 

moderate   divines    on   both    sides,    by    Tillotson    and    Stillingfleet 

on    the    part  of  the  Church   as   well   as  by  Manton   and    Baxter 

on  the   part   of  the   Nonconformists,   was   laid   before  the   House 

of  Commons.     Even   its   rejection  failed  to  bring  Ashley   and  his 

party  back  to  their  old  position.     They  were  still   for  toleration, 

but  only  for  a  toleration   the  benefit  of  which  did  not  extend  to 

Catholics,  "  in   respect    the    laws    have  determined   the    principles 


chap,  ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1369 

of  the  Romish  religion  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  safety  of  your      Sec.  hi 

Majesty's   person   and  government."     The   policy  of  the   Council     Charles 

in    fact    was    determined    by    the    look    of  public    affairs    abroad.      Second 

.  l667 

Lewis   had   quickly  shown   the  real   cause   of  the  eagerness    with         to 

which  he  had   pressed  on  the  Peace   of  Breda  between    England 

The 
and   the  Dutch.     He  had   secured   the  neutrality  of  the  Emperor    policy  of 

by  a  secret  treaty  which   shared  the   Spanish  dominions  between 

the  two  monarchs  in  case  the  King  of  Spain  died  without  an  heir. 

England,  as  he  believed,  was  held  in  check  by  Charles,  and  like 

Holland  was  too  exhausted  by  the  late  war  to  meddle  with  a  new 

one.     On  the  very  day  therefore  on  which  the  treaty  was  signed        l667 

he  sent  in  his  formal  claims  on  the   Low  Countries,  and  his  army 

at  once  took  the  field.     The  greater  part  of  Flanders  was  occupied 

and  six  great  fortresses  secured  in  two  months.     Franche  Comte 

was  overrun  in  seventeen  days.     Holland  protested  and  appealed 

to  England  for  aid  ;  but  her  appeals  remained  at  first  unanswered. 

England  sought  in  fact  to  tempt  Holland,  Spain,  and  France  in 

turn   by  secret   offers   of  alliance.     From   France    she    demanded, 

as    the  price   of  her  aid  against    Holland  and   perhaps    Spain,   a 

share  in  the  eventual  partition  of  the  Spanish  dominions,  and  an 

assignment  to   her   in  such  a  case   of  the  Spanish  Empire  in  the 

New   World.     But  all  her  offers    were   alike   refused.     The    need 

of  action  became  clearer    every   hour    to    the   English    ministers, 

and  wider  views  gradually  set  aside  the  narrow  dreams  of  merely 

national    aggrandizement.     The    victories    of    Lewis,   the    sudden 

revelation   of  the    strength   of  France,   roused    even   in    the  most 

tolerant    minds    a    dread    of  Catholicism.     Men    felt    instinctively 

that    the    very    existence    of   Protestantism    and    with    it    of   civil 

freedom    was    again    to    be    at    stake.     Arlington    himself  had    a        The 

Tvi'ble 

Dutch  wife  and  had  resided  in  Spain  ;  and  Catholic  as  in  heart  Alliance 
he  was,  thought  more  of  the  political  interests  of  England,  and  l668 
of  the  invariable  resolve  of  its  statesmen  since  Elizabeth's  dav 
to  keep  the  French  out  of  Flanders,  than  of  the  interests  of 
Catholicism.  Lewis,  warned  of  his  danger,  strove  to  lull  the 
general  excitement  by  offers  of  peace  to  Spain,  while  he  was  writing 
to  Turenne,  "  I  am  turning  over  in  my  head  things  that  are  far 
from  impossible,  and  go  to  carry  them  into  execution  whatever  they 
may  cost."     Three  armies  were,  in  fact,  ready  to  march  on  Spain, 


1370 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec,  hi  Germany,  and  Flanders,  when  Arlington  despatched  Sir  William 

ChtAheES  temple    to   the   Hague,   and   the   signature   of  a   Triple   Alliance 

Second  between    England,    Holland,    and    Sweden    bound    Lewis    to    the 
1667  ° 

to  terms  he  had  offered   as   a   blind,  and   forced   on   him  the   Peace 

—  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 


SIR    WILLIAM    TEMPLE. 
Picture  by  Sir  Peter  Lely,  in  the  National  Portrait  Gallery. 


The 
Treaty  of 
Dover     Alliance 


Few  measures  have  won  a  greater  popularity  than  the  Triple 
1  It  is  the  only  good  public  thing,"  says  Pepys,  "  that 
hath  been  done  since  the  King  came  to  England."  Even  Dryden, 
writing   at   the    time    as    a    Tory,    counted    among   the   worst    of 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


i37i 


Shaftesbury's  crimes  that  "  the  Triple  Bond  he  broke."     In  form  sec.  hi 

indeed  the  Alliance  simply  bound  Lewis  to  adhere  to   terms   of  Charles 

1      y  THE 

peace  proposed  by  himself,  and  those  advantageous   terms.     But 

in    fact    it   utterly  ruined  his  plans.     It   brought  about  too   that  to 


HUGUES    DE    LIONNE,    FOREIGN    SECRETARY    TO    LEWIS    XIV. 

Jusserand,  "A  French  Ambassador  at  the  Court  of  Charles  II.  ;"  from  an  engraving  by  N.  de 

Larmessin,  1664. 


union  of  the  powers  of  Europe  against  which,  as  Lewis  felt 
instinctively,  his  ambition  would  dash  itself  in  vain.  It  was 
Arlington's  aim  to  make  the  Alliance  the  nucleus  of  a  greater 
confederation  ;  and  he   tried   not   only   to   perpetuate   it,  but  to 


1372 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  Ill 
Charles 

THE 

Second 
1667 

TO 
1673 


Charles 
turns  to 
France 


include  within  it  the  Swiss  Cantons,  the  Empire,  and  the  House 
of  Austria.  His  efforts  were  foiled;  but  the  "  Triple  Bond"  bore 
within  it  the  germs  of  the  Grand  Alliance  which  at  last  saved 
Europe.  To  England  it  at  once  brought  back  the  reputation  which 
she  had  lost  since  the  death  of  Cromwell.  It  was  a  sign  of  her 
re-entry  on  the  general  stage  of  European  politics,  and  of  the 
formal  adoption  of  the  balance  of  power  as  a  policy  essential 
to  the  welfare  of  Europe  at  large.  But  it  was  not  so  much  the 
action  of  England  which  had  galled  the  pride  of  Lewis,  as  the 
action  of  Holland.  That  "  a  nation  of  shopkeepers"  (for  Lewis 
applied  the  phrase  to  Holland  long  before  Napoleon  applied  it 
to  England)  should  have  foiled  his  plans  at  the  very  moment 
of  their  realization,  "stung  him/'  he  owned,  "  to  the  quick."  If  he 
refrained  from  an  instant  attack  it  was  to  nurse  a  surer  revenge. 
His  steady  aim  during  the  four  years  which  followed  the  Peace 
of  Aix-la-Chapelle  was  to  isolate  the  United  Provinces,  to  bring 
about  the  neutrality  of  the  Empire  in  any  attack  on  them,  to 
break  the  Triple  Alliance  by  detaching  Sweden  from  it  and 
securing  Charles,  and  to  leave  the  Dutch  without  help,  save  from 
the  idle  goodwill  of  Brandenburg  and  Spain.  His  diplomacy  was 
everywhere  successful,  but  it  was  nowhere  so  successful  as  with 
England.  Charles  had  been  stirred  to  a  momentary  pride  by 
the  success  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  but  he  had  never  seriously 
abandoned  his  policy,  and  he  was  resolute  at  last  to  play  an 
active  part  in  realizing  it.  It  was  clear  that  little  was  to  be  hoped 
for  from  his  old  plans  of  winning  toleration  for  the  Catholics  from 
his  new  ministers,  and  that  in  fact  they  were  resolute  to  bring  about 
such  a  union  of  Protestants  as  would  have  been  fatal  to  his  designs. 
From  this  moment  he  resolved  to  seek  for  his  advantage  from 
France.  The  Triple  Alliance  was  hardly  concluded  when  he 
declared  to  Lewis  his  purpose  of  entering  into  an  alliance  with 
him,  offensive  and  defensive.  He  owned  to  be  the  only  man 
in  his  kingdom  who  desired  such  a  league,  but  he  was  deter- 
mined to  realize  his  desire,  whatever  might  be  the  sentiments  of 
his  ministers.  His  ministers,  indeed,  he  meant  either  to  bring 
over  to  his  schemes  or  to  outwit.  Two  of  them,  Arlington  and 
Sir  Thomas  Clifford,  were  Catholics  in  heart  like  the  King  ;  and 
they  were  summoned,  with  the  Duke  of  York,  who  had  already 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


x373 


secretly  embraced  Catholicism,  and  two  Catholic  nobles,  to  a 
conference  in  which  Charles,  after  pledging  them  to  secrecy, 
declared  himself  a  Catholic,  and  asked  their  counsel  as  to  the 
means  of  establishing  the  Catholic  religion  in  his  realm.  It  was 
resolved  to  apply  to  Lewis  for  aid  in  this  purpose  ;  and  Charles 
proceeded  to  seek  from  the  King  a  "  protection,"  to  use  the 
words  of  the  French  ambassador,  **  of  which  he  always  hoped 
to  feel  the  powerful  effects  in  the  execution  of  his  design  of 
changing  the  present  state  of  religion  in  England  for  a  better, 
and  of  establishing  his  authority  so  as  to  be  able  to  retain  his 


Sec.  Ill 
Charles 

THE 

Second 
1667 

TO 
1673 

I669 


TWO     "DRUMMS    AND    A    FIFE    AND    THE    DRUMME-MAJOR. 
F.   Sandford,   "  Funeral  of  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,"   1670. 


subjects  in  the  obedience  they  owe  him."  The  fall  of  Holland 
was  as  needful  for  the  success  of  the  plans  of  Charles  as  of  Lewis  ; 
and  with  the  ink  of  the  Triple  Alliance  hardly  dry,  Charles 
promised  help  in  Lewis's  schemes  for  the  ruin  of  Holland 
and  the  annexation  of  Flanders.  He  offered  therefore  to  declare 
his  religion  and  to  join  France  in  an  attack  on  Holland,  if  Lewis 
would  grant  him  a  subsidy  equal  to  a  million  a  year.  In  the 
event  of  the  King  of  Spain's  death  without  a  son  Charles  pledged 
himself  to  support  France  in  her  claims  upon  Flanders,  while 
Lewis    promised    to    assent    to   the    designs    of  England    on    the 


CHAP.   IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


I375 


Spanish  dominions  in  America.  On  this  basis,  after  a  year's 
negotiations,  a  secret  treaty  was  concluded  at  Dover  in  an  inter- 
view between  Charles  and  his  sister  Henrietta,  the  Duchess  of 
Orleans.  It  provided  that  Charles  should  announce  his  conversion 
and  that  in  case  of  any  disturbance  arising  from  such  a  step  he 
should  be  supported  by  a  French  army  and  a  French  subsidy. 
War  was  to  be  declared  by  both  powers  against  Holland,  England 
furnishing  a  small  land  force,  but  bearing  the  chief  burthen  of  the 


Sec.  Ill 
Charles 

THE 

Second 
1667 

TO 
1673 

May  1670 


TWO    MASTERS    OF   THE    CHANCERY, 


TWO   OF   THE    DUKE   OF    ALBEMARLE  S 
WATERMEN. 

F.  Sandford,   "Funeral  of  the  Duke  of  Albemarle,"  1670. 


The 
Declara- 
tion of 
Indul- 
gence 


contest  at  sea,  on  condition  of  an  annual  subsidy  of  three  hundred 
thousand  pounds. 

Nothing  marks  better  the  political  profligacy  of  the  age  than 
that  Arlington,  the  author  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  should  have  been 
chosen  as  the  confidant  of  Charles  in  his  treaty  of  Dover.  But  to 
all  save  Arlington  and  Clifford  the  King's  change  of  religion  or 
his  political  aims  remained  utterly  unknown.  It  would  have  been 
impossible  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  party  in  the  royal  council  The  Cabal 
which  represented  the  old  Presbyterians,  of  Ashley  or  Lauderdale  u,ar 
or  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  to  the  Treaty  of  Dover.  But  it  was 
possible  to  trick  them  into  approval  of  a  war  with  Holland  byplay- 


ZZ    "° 


s 
v 
^ 

^ 
X 


chap,  ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1377 

ing  on  their  desire  for  a  toleration  of  the  Nonconformists.     The      Sec.  hi 
announcement  of  the  King's  Catholicism  was  therefore  deferred  ;     Charles 

0  THE 

and  a  series  of  mock  negotiations,  carried  on  through  Buckingham, 

1667 

ended  in  the  conclusion  of  a  sham  treatv  which  was  communicated         to 

1673 

to    Lauderdale    and    to    Ashley,    a    treaty    which    suppressed    all        — 

mention  of  the  religious  changes  or  of  the  promise  of  French 
aid  in  bringing  them  about,  and  simply  stipulated  for  a  joint 
war  against  the  Dutch.  In  such  a  war  there  was  no  formal 
breach  of  the  Triple  Alliance,  for  the  Triple  Alliance  only  guarded 
against  an  attack  on  the  dominions  of  Spain,  and  Ashley  and  his 
colleagues  were  lured  into  assent  to  it  in  1671  by  the  promise  of  a 
toleration  on  their  own  terms.  Charles  in  fact  yielded  the  point  to 
which  he  had  hitherto  clung,  and,  as  Ashley  demanded,  promised 
that  no  Catholic  should  be  benefited  by  the  Indulgence.  The 
bargain  once  struck,  and  his  ministers  outwitted,  it  only  remained 
for  Charles  to  outwit  his  Parliament.  A  large  subsidy  had  been 
demanded  in  1670  for  the  fleet,  under  the  pretext  of  upholding 
the  Triple  Alliance  ;  and  the  subsidy  was  granted.  In  the  spring  1671 
the  two  Houses  were  adjourned.  So  great  was  the  national 
opposition  to  his  schemes  that  Charles  was  driven  to  plunge 
hastily  into  hostilities.  An  attack  on  a  Dutch  convoy  was  at 
once  followed  by  a  declaration  of  war,  and  fresh  supplies  were 
obtained  for  the  coming  struggle  by  closing  the  Exchequer,  and 
suspending  under  Clifford's  advice  the  payment  of  either  principal 
or  interest  on  loans  advanced  to  the  public  Treasury.  The 
suspension  spread  bankruptcy  among  half  the  goldsmiths  of 
London  ;  but  with  the  opening  of  the  war  Ashley  and  his 
colleagues  gained  the  toleration  they  had  bought  so  dear.  By 
virtue  of  his  ecclesiastical  powers  the  King  ordered  "  that  all  1672 
manner  of  penal  laws  on  matters  ecclesiastical  against  whatever 
sort  of  Nonconformists  or  recusants  should  be  from  that  day 
suspended,"  and  gave  liberty  of  public  worship  to  all  dissidents 
save  Catholics,  who  were  allowed  to  say  mass  only  in  private 
houses.  The  effect  of  the  Declaration  went  far  to  justify 
Ashley  and  his  colleagues  (if  anything  could  justify  their  course) 
in  the  bargain  by  which  they  purchased  toleration.  Ministers 
returned,  after  years  of  banishment,  to  their  homes  and  their 
flocks.      Chapels    were     reopened.       The    gaols     were     emptied 


chap,  ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1379 


Bunyan    left   his   prison    at   Bedford  ;  and   hundreds  of   Quakers,      Sec,  hi 

who  had  been  the  special   objects  of  persecution,  were   set   free     Champs 

to  worship  God  after  their  own  fashion.  Second 

.  .  l667 

The    Declaration    of   Indulgence    however   failed    to    win    any         to 

.  1673 

expression    of  gratitude    from   the    bulk    of   the    Nonconformists.        — 

..    .  The 

Dear   as   toleration  was  to  them,  the   general  interests  of  religion    warwith 

were  dearer,  and  not  only  these  but  national  freedom  was  now  ° 
at  stake.  The  success  of  the  Allies  seemed  at  first  complete. 
The  French  army  passed  the  Rhine,  overran  three  of  the  States 
without  opposition,  and  pushed  its  outposts  to  within  sight  of 
Amsterdam.  It  was  only  by  skill  and  desperate  courage  that 
the  Dutch  ships  under  De  Ruyter  held  the  English  fleet  under 
the  Duke  of  York  at  bay  in  an  obstinate  battle  off  the  coast  of 
Suffolk.  The  triumph  of  the  English  cabinet  was  shown  in  the 
elevation  of  the  leaders  of  both  its  parties.  Ashley  was  made 
Chancellor  and  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  and  Clifford  became  Lord 
Treasurer.  But  the  Dutch  were  saved  by  the  stubborn  courage 
which  awoke  before  the  arrogant  demands  of  the  conqueror. 
The  plot  of  the  two  Courts  hung  for  success  on  the  chances  of 
a  rapid  surprise  ;  and  with  the  approach  of  winter  which 
suspended  military  operations,  all  chance  of  a  surprise  was  over. 
The  death  of  De  Witt,  the  leader  of  the  great  merchant  class, 
called  William  the  Prince  of  Orange  to  the  head  of  the  Republic. 
Young  as  he  was,  he  at  once  displayed  the  cool  courage  and 
tenacity  of  his  race.  "  Do  you  not  see  your  country  is  lost  ? " 
asked  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who  had  been  sent  to  negotiate 
at  the  Hague.  "There  is  a  sure  way  never  to  see  it  lost," 
replied  William,  "  and  that  is  to  die  in  the  last  ditch."  With 
the  spring  the  tide  began  to  turn.  Holland  was  saved  and  1673 
province  after  province  won  back  from  France  by  William's 
dauntless  resolve.  In  England  the  delay  of  winter  had  ex- 
hausted the  supplies  which  had  been  so  unscrupulously  pro- 
cured, while  the  closing  of  the  Treasury  had  shaken  credit  and 
rendered  it  impossible  to  raise  a  loan.  It  was  necessary  in  1673 
to  appeal  to  the  Commons,  but  the  Commons  met  in  a  mood 
of  angry  distrust.  The  war,  unpopular  as  it  was,  they  left  alone.  £t-se 
What  overpowered  all    other    feelings  was  a   vague    sense,  which      °f thc 

we  know  now  to  have  been  justified  by  the  facts,  that  liberty  and      Party 
Vol.  Ill— 29 


1380 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  Ill 
Charles 

THE 

Second 
1667 

TO 
1673 


religion  were  being  unscrupulously  betrayed.  There  was  a  suspicion 
that  the  whole  armed  force  of  the  nation  was  in  Catholic  hands. 
The  Duke  of  York  was  suspected  of  being  in  heart  a  Papist,  and 
he  was  in  command  of  the  fleet.     Catholics  had  been  placed  as 


A  - 

v    •      ^  f 

•■  *  •  ^    ''■£%?■  '■'  \            '".-' 

si 

* 

'  /mi/     **   ' 

*      /'         '            '       ''• 

'■     ntfc" 

•■'                                                                   * 

*v-!^.  *• 

*               "  1 

BARBARA    PALMER,    COUNTESS    OF    CASTLEMAINE    AND    DUCHESS   OF   CLEVELAND. 
From  an  engraving  by   W.  Skerwin,  1670. 


officers  in  the  force  which  was  being  raised  for  the  war  in  Holland. 
Lady  Castlemaine,  the  King's  mistress,  paraded  her  conversion  ; 
and  doubts  were  fast  gathering  over  the  Protestantism  of  the 
King.     There   was  a  general  suspicion  that  a  plot  was  on    foot 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1381 


for   the    establishment    of   Catholicism    and    despotism,    and    that      Sec.  hi 
the  war  and  the  Indulgence  were  parts  of  the  plot.     The  change     Charles 


THE 


of  temper  in   the   Commons  was   marked   by  the    appearance    of      Second 

what    was    from  that    time  called    the  Country  party,   with  Lord         to 

167 1 
Russell,  Lord   Cavendish,  and    Sir  William   Coventry  at   its  head, 

a  party  which  sympathized  with  the  desire  of  the  Nonconformists 
for  religious  toleration,  but  looked  on  it  as  its  first  duty  to 
guard  against  the  designs  of  the  Court.  As  to  the  Declaration 
of  Indulgence,  however,  all  parties  in  the  House  were  at  one. 
The  Commons  resolved  "  that  penal  statutes  in  matters  ecclesi- 
astical cannot  be  suspended  but  by  consent  of  Parliament,"  and 
refused    supplies    till    the    Declaration    was    recalled.      The    King    The  Test 

Act 

yielded  ;  but  the  Declaration  was  no  sooner  recalled  than  a 
Test  Act  was  passed  through  both  Houses  without  opposition, 
which  required  from  every  one  in  the  civil  and  military  employ- 
ment of  the  State  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy,  a 
declaration  against  transubstantiation,  and  a  reception  of  the 
sacrament  according  to  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England. 
It  was  known  that  the  Protestant  dissidents  were  prepared  to 
waive  all  objection  to  oath  or  sacrament,  while  the  Bill  would 
wholly  exclude  Catholics  from  share  in  the  government.  Clifford 
at  once  counselled  resistance,  and  Buckingham  talked  flightily 
about  bringing  the  army  to  London.  But  the  grant  of  a  subsidy 
was  still  held  in  suspense  ;  and  Arlington,  who  saw  that  all  hope 
of  carrying  the  "  great  plan "  through  was  at  an  end,  pressed 
Charles  to  yield.  A  dissolution  was  the  King's  only  resource, 
but  in  the  temper  of  the  nation  a  new  Parliament  would  have 
been  yet  more  violent  than  the  present  one  ;  and  Charles  sullenly 
gave  way.  Few  measures  have  ever  brought  about  more  startling 
results.  The  Duke  of  York  owned  himself  a  Catholic  and  resigned 
his  office  as  Lord  High  Admiral.  Throngs  of  excited  people 
gathered  round  the  Lord  Treasurer's  house  at  the  news  that 
Clifford,  too,  had  owned  to  being  a  Catholic  and  had  laid  down 
his  staff  of  office.  Their  resignation  was  followed  by  that  of 
hundreds  of  others  in  the  army  and  the  civil  service  of  the  Crown. 
On  public  opinion  the  effect  was  wonderful.  "  I  dare  not  write 
all  the  strange  talk  of  the  town,"  says  Evelyn.  The  resignations 
were  held  to  have  proved  the  existence  of  the  dangers  which  the 


1382 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  Ill 
Charles 

THE 

Second 
1667 

TO 
1673 


Test  Act  had  been  framed  to  meet.  From  this  moment  all  trust 
in  Charles  was  at  an  end.  "  The  King,"  Shaftesbury  said  bitterly, 
"  who  if  he  had  been  so  happy  as  to  have  been  born  a  private 
gentleman  had  certainly  passed  for  a  man  of  good  parts,  excellent 
breeding,  and  well  natured,  hath  now,  being  a  Prince,  brought  his 
affairs  to  that  pass  that  there  is  not  a  person  in  the  world,  man  or 
woman,  that  dares  rely  upon  him  or  put  any  confidence  in  his 
word  or  friendship." 


HUNTERS,    C.    l680  — 1700 

Ballad   in    Roxburghe    Collection. 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION  1383 


Sec.  IV 

Dan  by 

1673 

Section    IV.  — Danby,    1673— 1678  ,5^ 


[Authorities. — As  before.  Mr.  Christie's  "•  Life  of  Shaftesbury,"  a  defence, 
and  in  some  respects  a  successful  defence,  of  that  statesman's  career,  throws  a 
fresh  light  on  the  policy  of  the  Whig  party  during  this  period.] 

The  one  man  in  England  on  whom  the  discovery  of  the  King's    Shaftes- 

&  -  °  bury 

perfidy  fell  with  the  most  crushing  effect  was  the  Chancellor,  Lord 
Shaftesbury.  Ashley  Cooper  had  piqued  himself  on  a  penetration 
which  read  the  characters  of  men  around  him,  and  on  a  political 
instinct  which  discerned  every  coming  change.  His  self-reliance 
was  wonderful.  In  mere  boyhood  he  saved  his  estate  from  the 
greed  of  his  guardians  by  boldly  appealing  in  person  to  Nov,  who 
was  then  Attornev-General.  As  an  undergraduate  at  Oxford 
he  organized  a  rebellion  of  the  freshmen  against  the  oppressive 
customs  which  were  enforced  by  the  senior  men  of  his  college,  and 
succeeded  in  abolishing  them.  At  eighteen  he  was  a  member  of 
the  Short  Parliament.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  he  took 
part  with  the  King  ;  but  in  the  midst  of  the  royal  successes  he 
foresaw  the  ruin  of  the  royal  cause,  passed  to  the  Parliament, 
attached  himself  to  the  fortunes  of  Cromwell,  and  became  member 
of  the  Council  of  State.  Before  all  things  a  strict  Parliamentarian, 
however,  he  was  alienated  by  Cromwell's  setting  up  of  absolute 
rule  without  Parliament ;  and  a  temporary  disgrace  during  the 
last  years  of  the  Protectorate  only  quickened  him  to  an  active 
opposition  which  did  much  to  bring  about  its  fall.  His  bitter 
invectives  against  the  dead  Protector,  his  intrigues  with  Monk,  and 
the  active  part  which  he  took,  as  member  of  the  Council  of  State, 
in  the  King's  recall,  were  rewarded  at  the  Restoration  with  a 
peerage,  and  with  promotion  to  a  foremost  share  in  the  royal 
councils.  Ashley  was  then  a  man  of  forty,  and  under  the 
Commonwealth  he  had  been,  in  the  contemptuous  phrase  of 
Dryden  when  writing  as  a  Tory,  "  the  loudest  bagpipe  of  the 
squeaking  train  ; "  but  he  was  no  sooner  a  minister  of  Charles  than 
he  flung  himself  into  the  debauchery  of  the  Court  with  an  ardour 
which  surprised  even  his  master.  "  You  are  the  wickedest  dog 
in    England ! "  laughed  Charles  at  some  unscrupulous  jest  of  his 


nU 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


sec,  iv     counsellor's.     "  Of    a    subject,    Sir,     I    believe    I    am!"    was    the 
Danby      unabashed  reply.     But   the   debauchery  of   Ashley  was   simply  a 
mask.     He  was  in  fact  temperate  by  nature   and   habit,  and   his 


1673 


TO 
I678 


—       ill-health  rendered  any  great  excess  impossible.     Men  soon    found 


ANTHONY    ASHLEY    COOPER,    FIRST    EARL    OF    SHAFTESBURY. 
Miniature    by    S.    Cooper,    in    the   possession    of   the    Earl   of  Shaftesbury. 


that  the  courtier  who  lounged  in  Lady  Castlemaine's  boudoir,  or 
drank  and  jested  with  Sedley  and  Buckingham,  was  a  diligent  and 
able  man  of  business.  "  He  is  a  man,"  says  the  puzzled  Pepys, 
three  years  after  the  Restoration,  "  of  great  business,  and  yet  of 
pleasure  and  dissipation  too."     His  rivals  were  as  envious  of  the 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1385 


ease  and  mastery  with  which  he  dealt  with  questions  of  finance,  as      Sec,  iv 

of  the  "nimble  wit"  which  won  the  favour  of  the  King.     Even    in       Danby 

.  1673 

later  years  his  industry  earned  the  grudging  praise  of  his  enemies. 

Dryden   owned  that  as  Chancellor  he  was  "  swift  to  despatch  and 

easy   of    access,"    and    wondered    at    the    restless    activity    which 

u  refused   his   age  the  needful  hours  of  rest."     His  activity  indeed 

was  the  more  wonderful  that  his  health  was  utterly  broken.     An 

accident   in   early  days  left  behind  it  an  abiding  weakness,  whose 

traces  were  seen  in  the  furrows  which  seared  his  long  pale  face,  in 

the  feebleness  of  his  health,  and  the  nervous  tremor  which  shook 

his  puny  frame.     The  "pigmy  body"  was  "fretted  to  decay"  by 

the    "  fiery    soul "    within    it.     But    pain    and    weakness    brought 

with    them    no    sourness    of    spirit.     Ashley    was    attacked    more 

unscrupulously  than   any  statesman   save    YValpole  ;    but    Burnet, 

who  did  not  love  him,  owns  that  he  was  never  bitter  or  angry  in 

speaking  of  his  assailants.     Even  the  wit  with  which  he   crushed 

them  was  commonly  good-humoured.     "  When  will  you  have  done 

preaching  ? "    a    bishop    murmured    testily,    as     Shaftesbury    was 

speaking   in   the    House   of  Peers.     "  When    I    am   a   bishop,   my 

Lord  ! "  was  the  lau^hin^  reolv. 

As    a    statesman    Ashley    not    only    stood    high    among    his     Shaftes. 

contemporaries    from    his   wonderful   readiness   and    industry,  but      Policy 

he   stood  far   above  them   in  his  scorn  of  personal  profit.      Even 

Dryden,  while  raking  together  every  fault  in  his  character,  owns 

that  his  hands  were  clean.     As  a  political  leader  his  position  was 

to  modern  eves  odd  enough.      In  religion  he  was  at  best  a   Deist, 

with  some  fanciful   notions   "  that  after  death   our  souls  lived    in 

stars."     But  Deist  as  he  was,  he  remained  the  representative  of  the 

Presbyterian  and  Nonconformist  party  in  the  royal  council.     He 

was    the    steady    and    vehement    advocate    of  toleration,   but    his 

advocacy  was  based   on    purely  political   grounds.      He   saw   that 

persecution  would  fail  to  bring  back  the  Dissenters  to  the  Church, 

and   that  the  effort  to  recall  them  only  left  the  country  disunited, 

and  thus  exposed  English  liberty  to  invasion  from  the  Crown,  and 

robbed   England  of  all  influence  in  Europe.     The  one  means  of 

uniting  Churchmen  and  Dissidents  was  by  a  policy  of  toleration. 

but   in   the  temper  of  England  after  the  Restoration   he  saw  no 

hope  of  obtaining  toleration  save  from  the  King.     Wit,  debauchery. 


J/Pfcj    mm  ipphrt, 


o 
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z 

o 

Q 

a 

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-j 

a. 
• « 

UJ 

O 

u 
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-J 
o 
o 


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(0 
UJ 

a: 
o 

CO 

a 

< 

UJ 

H 

U. 

< 

h 

UJ 
UJ 

a: 

H 
to 

UJ 

h 
< 

O 

Q- 
O 

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to 


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to 
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a 


J3 

H 


CHAP.  IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


;87 


rapidity  in  the  despatch  of  business,  were  all  therefore  used  as  a 
means  to  gain  influence  over  the  King,  and  to  secure  him  as 
a  friend  in  the  struggle  which  Ashley  carried  on  against  the 
intolerance  of  Clarendon.  Charles,  as  we  have  seen,  had  his  own 
game  to  play  and  his  own  reasons  for  protecting  Ashley  during  his 
vehement  but  fruitless  struggle  against  the  Test  and  Corporation 
Act,  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  and  the  persecution  of  the  Dissidents. 
Fortune  at  last  smiled  on  the  unscrupulous  ability  with  which  he 


Sec.  IV 

Dan  by 
1673 

TO 
I678 


THE     NEW     ROYAL     EXCHANGE. 

(Built  1667 — 1669). 

Where  the  lectures  of  Gresham  College  were  given  from  1768. 


entangled  Clarendon  in  the  embarrassments  of  the  Dutch  war  of 
1664,  and  took  advantage  of  the  alienation  of  the  Parliament  to 
ensure  his  fall.  By  a  yet  more  unscrupulous  bargain  Ashley  had 
bought,  as  he  believed,  the  Declaration  of  Indulgence,  the  release 
of  the  imprisoned  Nonconformists,  and  freedom  of  worship  for  all 
dissidents,  at  the  price  of  a  consent  to  the  second  attack  on 
Holland  ;  and  he  was  looked  on  by  the  public  at  large  as  the 
minister  most  responsible  both  for  the  measures  he  advised  and 
the   measures  he  had  nothing  to  do  with.     But  while   facing  the 


^ssfi 


INTERIOR    OF    S.    STEPHEN'S    CHURCH,    WALBROOK. 
Built  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  1672 — 1679. 


CHAP.   IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1389 


gathering  storm  of  unpopularity  Ashley  learnt  in  a  moment  of 
drunken  confidence  the  secret  of  the  King's  religion.  He  owned 
to  a  friend  "  his  trouble  at  the  black  cloud  which  was  gathering 
over  England  ;  "  but,  troubled  as  he  was,  he  still  believed  himself 
strong  enough  to  use  Charles  for  his  own  purposes.  His  accept- 
ance of  the  Chancellorship  and  of  the  Earldom  of  Shaftesbury,  as 
well  as  his  violent  defence  of  the  war  on  opening  the  Parliament, 
identified  him  yet  more  with  the  royal  policy.  It  was  after  the 
opening  of  the  Parliament,  if 
we  credit  the  statement  of  the 
French  Ambassador,  that  he  learnt 
from  Arlington  the  secret  of 
the  Treaty  of  Dover.  Whether 
this  were  so,  or  whether  sus- 
picion, as  in  the  people  at 
large,  deepened  into  certainty, 
Shaftesbury  saw  he  had  been 
duped.  To  the  bitterness  of  such 
a  discovery  was  added  the  bitter- 
ness of  having  aided  in  schemes 
which  he  abhorred.  His  change 
of  policy  was  rapid  and  complete. 
He  pressed  in  the  royal  council 
for  the  withdrawal  of  the  De- 
claration of  Indulgence.  In  Par- 
liament he  supported  the  Test 
Act  with  extraordinarv  vehem- 
ence.  The  displacement  of  James 
and  Clifford  by  the  Test  left 
him,   as  he  thought,  dominant   in 

the  royal  council,  and  gave  him  hopes  of  revenging  the  deceit 
which  had  been  practised  on  him  by  forcing  his  policy  on 
the  King.  He  was  resolved  to  end  the  war.  He  had  dreams 
of  meeting  the  danger  of  a  Catholic  successor  by  a  dissolu- 
tion of  the  King's  marriage  and  by  a  fresh  match  with  a 
Protestant  princess.  For  the  moment  indeed  Charles  was  help- 
less. He  found  himself,  as  he  had  told  Lewis  long  before, 
alone  in  his  realm.     The  Test  Act  had  been  passed  unanimously 


Sec.  IV 

Danby 
1673 

TO 
I678 

Shaftes- 
bury's 
change  of 
policy 


FIGURE  OF  S.  HELEN,  IN   S.  HELEN'S 
CHURCH,    BISHOPSGATE,  C.    l68o. 


139° 


Sec.  IV 

Danbv 

1673 

TO 
I678 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


by  both  Houses.  Even  the  Nonconformists  deserted  him,  and 
preferred  persecution  to  the  support  of  his  plans.  The  dismissal 
of  the  Catholic  officers  made  the  employment  of  force,  if  he  ever 
contemplated  it,  impossible,  while  the  ill  success  of  the  Dutch  war 
robbed  him  of  all  hope  of  aid  from  France.     The  firmness  of  the 


« ■^^^is^^yf^^i'1^'  ~ " ". 


PORCH    OF    NAG'S    HEAD    INN,    LEICESTER. 

Built  1663. 

Richardson's  "  Studies  from  Old  English  Mansions." 


Prince  of  Orange  had  roused  the  stubborn  energy  of  his  country- 
men. The  French  conquests  on  land  were  slowly  won  back,  and 
at  sea  the  fleet  of  the  allies  was  still  held  in  check  by  the  fine 
seamanship  of  De  Ruyter.  Nor  was  William  less  successful  in 
diplomacy  than  in  war.    "The  House  of  Austria  was  at  last  roused 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


to  action  by  the  danger  which  threatened  Europe,  and  its  union 
with  the  United  Provinces  laid  the  foundation  of  the  Grand 
Alliance.  If  Charles  was  firm  to  continue  the  war,  Shaftesbury, 
like  the  Parliament  itself,  was  resolved  on  peace  ;  and  for  this 
purpose  he  threw  himself  into  hearty  alliance  with  the  Country 
party  in  the  Commons,  and  welcomed  the  Duke  of  Ormond  and 
Prince  Rupert,  who  were  looked  upon  as  "  great  Parliament  men," 


i39i 


Sec.  IV 

Dan  by 
1673 

TO 
I678 


DOORWAY    OF    PEARCE!S     CLOTHING    FACTORY,    NEWBURY,    BERKS. 

Built  1672. 


back  to  the  royal  council.     It  was  to  Shaftesbury's  influence  that 

Charles   attributed  the  dislike  which  the   Commons  displayed   to 

the  war,  and  their  refusal  of  a  grant  of  supplies  until  fresh  religious 

securities  were  devised.     It  was  at  his  instigation  that  an  address 

was  presented  by  both  Houses  against  the  plan  of  marrying  James     shaft*. 

to  a   Catholic   princess,   Mary  of   Modena.     But   the  projects    of  J*** 

Shaftesbury  were   suddenly  interrupted   by  an   unexpected   act  of      *££* 


A.T/kHalL  uTA? Way  (uufaa &V&d£   OJ/uShrM.  Sc*A \abu'Jkcr. 

\  •Tht'Zytfaytiffcircurjji   CtAin^u1.  /{cute      Y.  0  ajtmrtuMvy  Fcr  Comfuz/ru/. 


INN    CALLED    ANTIQUITY    HALL,    NEAR    OXFORD. 

Built  before  1675. 

From  an  Engraving  by  G.  Vertue. 


chap,  ix  THE    REVOLUTION 


393 


vigour  on  the  part  of  the  King.  The  Houses  were  no  sooner  sec.  iv 
prorogued  in  November  than  the  Chancellor  was  ordered  to  deliver  Danbv 
up  the  Seals.  IT7G3 

"  It  is  only  laying  down  my  gown  and  buckling  on  my  sword," 
Shaftesbury  is  said  to  have    replied    to    the    royal    bidding  ;  and, 


Charles 
and 


though  the  words  were  innocent  enough,  for  the  sword  was  part  of    Shaftes- 
bury 
the  usual  dress  of  a  gentleman  which  he  must  necessarily  resume 

when  he  laid  aside  the  gown  of  the  Chancellor,  they  were  taken  as 
conveying  a  covert  threat.  He  was  still  determined  to  force  on 
the  King  a  peace  with  the  States.  But  he  looked  forward  to  the 
dangers  of  the  future  with  even  greater  anxiety  than  to  those  of 
the  present.  The  Duke  of  York,  the  successor  to  the  throne,  had 
owned  himself  a  Catholic,  and  almost  every  one  agreed  that 
securities  for  the  national  religion  would  be  necessary  in  the  case 
of  his  accession.  But  Shaftesbury  saw,  and  it  is  his  especial  merit 
that  he  did  see,  that  with  a  King  like  James,  convinced  of  his 
Divine  Right  and  bigoted  in  his  religious  fervour,  securities  were 
valueless.  From  the  first  he  determined  to  force  on  Charles  his 
brother's  exclusion  from  the  throne,  and  his  resolve  was  justified  by 
the  Revolution  which  finally  did  the  work  he  proposed  to  do.  Un- 
happily he  was  equally  determined  to  fight  Charles  with  weapons 
as  vile  as  his  own.  The  result  of  Clifford's  resignation,  of  James's  The 
acknowledgement  of  his  conversion,  had  been  to  destroy  all  belief  panic 
in  the  honesty  of  public  men.  A  panic  of  distrust  had  begun. 
The  fatal  truth  was  whispered  that  Charles  himself  was  a  Catholic. 
In  spite  of  the  Test  Act,  it  was  suspected  that  men  Catholics  in 
heart  still  held  high  office  in  the  State,  and  we  know  that  in 
Arlington's  case  the  suspicion  was  just.  Shaftesbury  seized  on  this 
public  alarm,  stirred  above  all  by  a  sense  of  inability  to  meet  the 
secret  dangers  which  day  after  day  was  disclosing,  as  the  means  of 
carrying  out  his  plans.  He  began  fanning  the  panic  by  tales  of  a 
Papist  rising  in  London,  and  of  a  coming  Irish  revolt  with  a 
French  army  to  back  it.  He  retired  to  his  house  in  the  City  to 
find  security  against  a  conspiracy  which  had  been  formed,  he  said, 
to  cut  his  throat.  Meanwhile  he  rapidly  organized  the  Country 
party  in  the  Parliament,  and  placed  himself  openly  at  its  head. 
An  address  for  the  removal  of  ministers  "  popishly  affected  or  I674 
otherwise    obnoxious    or   dangerous "    was   presented   on   the   re- 


1394 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


sec.  iv     assembling  of  the  Houses.     The  Commons  called  on  the  King  to 

danby      dismiss  Lauderdale,  Buckingham,  and  Arlington,  and  to  disband 

^o3       the  troops  raised  since  1664.     A  bill  was  brought  in  to  prevent  all 

1  7         Catholics  from  approaching  the  Court,  in  other  words  for  removing 

James  from  the  King's  councils.     A  far  more  important  bill  was 


-z 


#«S*?5^.  "t 


i\$# 


ENTRANCE  TO  ARBOUR  OF  SHOEMAKERS'  GILD,  SHREWSBURY. 

Built  1679. 
Drawing  by  Mr.  F.  A.  Hibbert. 


that  of  the  Protestant  Securities,  which  was  pressed  by  Shaftes- 
bury, Halifax,  and  Carlisle,  the  leaders  of  the  new  Opposition 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  a  bill  which  enacted  that  any  prince  of 
the  blood  should  forfeit  his  right  to  the  Crown  on  his  marriage 
with   a    Catholic.      The   bill,  which  was  the  first   sketch   of  the 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION" 


I395 


WAIT  S    BADGE,    LEICESTER. 

Seventeenth   Century. 
Art  Journal. 


BADGE     OF     EDMUND 
SUTTON.   MAYOR  OF 
LEICESTER,    l6j6. 
Art  Journal. 


Dan  by 
1673 

TO 
I678 


later  Exclusion  Bill,  failed  to  pass,  but  its  failure  left  the  Houses      Sec.  iv 
excited     and    alarmed.       Shaftesbury     intrigued     busily     in     the 
City,    corresponded    with    William    of    Orange,    and    pressed    for 
a    war    with     France    which    Charles    could    only    avert    by    an 

appeal  to  Lewis,  a  subsidy  from 
whom  enabled  him  to  prorogue  the 
Parliament.  But  Charles  saw  that  the 
time  had  come  to  give  way.  "Things 
have  turned  out  ill,"  he  said  to  Temple 
with  a  burst  of  unusual  petulance, 
"  but  had  I  been  well  served  I  might 
have  made  a  good  business  of  it."  His 
concessions  however  were  as  usual 
complete.  He  dismissed  Buckingham 
and  Arlington.  He  made  peace  with  Peace 
the  Dutch.  But  Charles  was  never  Holland 
more  formidable  than  in  the  moment  l674 
of  defeat,  and  he  had  already  resolved 
on  a  new  policy  by  which  the  efforts 
of  Shaftesbury  might  be  held  at  bay. 
Ever  since  the  opening  of  his  reign  he  had  clung  to  a  system 
of  balance,  had  pitted  Churchman  against  Nonconformist,  and 
Ashley  against  Clarendon,  partly  to  preserve  his  own  independ- 
ence, and  partly  with  a  view  of  winning  some  advantage  to  the 
Catholics  from  the  political  strife.  The 
temper  of  the  Commons  had  enabled 
Clarendon  to  baffle  the  King's  efforts  ;  and 
on  his  fall  Charles  felt  strong  enough  to 
abandon  the  attempt  to  preserve  a  political 
balance,  and  had  sought  to  carry  out  his 
designs  with  the  single  support  of  the  Non- 
conformists. But  the  new  policy  had  broken 
down  like  the  old.  The  Nonconformists 
refused  to  betray  the  cause  of  Protestantism, 

and  Shaftesbury,  their  leader,  was  pressing  on  measures  which 
would  rob  Catholicism  of  the  hopes  it  had  gained  from  the 
conversion    of    James.       In    straits    like    these    Charles    resolved 

to    win    back    the   Commons    by  boldly    adopting    the    policy    on 
Vol.  Ill— 30 


THOMAS    OSBORNE,    EARL    OF    DANBY. 
Picture  by   Vandyck  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  F.  Vernon   Went7vorth. 


chap,  ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1397 

which   the    House   was  set.      The   majority  of  its   members   were      Sec.  iv 
Cavalier    Churchmen,    who    regarded     Sir    Thomas     Osborne,    a       Danby 
dependant    of    Arlington's,    as    their    representative    in    the    royal         TO 
councils.     The  King  had  already  created  Osborne   Earl  of  Danby,        __ 
and  made  him   Lord  Treasurer  in   Clifford's    room.     In    1674   he 
frankly  adopted  the  policy  of  Danby  and  his  party  in  the   Parlia- 
ment. 

The  policy  of  Danby  was  in  the  main  that  of  Clarendon.  He  Danby 
had  all  Clarendon's  love  of  the  Church,  his  equal  hatred  of  Popery 
and  Dissent,  his  high  notions  of  the  prerogative  tempered  by  a 
faith  in  Parliament  and  the  law.  His  first  measures  were  directed 
to  allay  the  popular  panic,  and  strengthen  the  position  of  James. 
Mary,  the  Duke's  eldest  child,  and  after  him  the  presumptive  heir 
to  the  Crown,  was  confirmed  by  the  royal  order  as  a  Protestant. 
Secret  negotiations  were  opened  for  her  marriage  with  William  of 
Orange,  the  son  of  the  King's  sister  Mary,  who  if  James  and  his 
house  were  excluded  stood  next  in  succession  to  the  crown.  Such 
a  marriage  secured  James  against  the  one  formidable  rival  to  his 
claims,  while  it  opened  to  William  a  far  safer  chance  of  mounting 
the  throne  at  his  father-in-law's  death.  The  union  between  the 
Church  and  the  Crown  was  ratified  in  conferences  between  Danby 
and  the  bishops  ;  and  its  first  fruits  were  seen  in  the  rigorous 
enforcement  of  the  law  against  conventicles,  and  the  exclusion  of 
all  Catholics  from  court ;  while  the  Parliament  which  was  assembled 
in  1675  was  assured  that  the  Test  Act  should  be  rigorously 
enforced.  The  change  in  the  royal  policy  came  not  a  moment  too 
soon.  As  it  was,  the  aid  of  the  Cavalier  party  which  rallied  round 
Danby  hardly  saved  the  King  from  the  humiliation  of  being  forced 
to  recall  the  troops  he  still  maintained  in  the  French  service.  To 
gain  a  majority  on  this  point  Danby  was  forced  to  avail  himself  of  Danby 
a  resource  which  from  this  time  played  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  Commom 
an  important  part  in  English  politics.  He  bribed  lavishly.  He 
was  more  successful  in  winning  back  the  majority  of  the  Commons 
from  their  alliance  with  the  Country  party  by  reviving  the  old  spirit 
of  religious  persecution.  He  proposed  that  the  test  which  had  been 
imposed  by  Clarendon  on  municipal  officers  should  be  extended  to 
all  functionaries  of  the  State  ;  that  every  member  of  either  House, 
every  magistrate    and  public   officer,  should   swear  never  to   take 


*398 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec  IV 

Danby 

1673 

TO 
1678 


1675 


arms  against  the  King  or    to  "endeavour   any    alteration    of  the 
Protestant    religion    now    established    by    law    in    the    Church    of 
England,  or  any  alteration  in  the  Government  in  Church  and  State 
as  it  is  by  law  established."     The    Bill    was    forced    through    the 
Lords   by  the   bishops   and   the    Cavalier    party,  and    its    passage 
through    the   Commons   was  only  averted  by  a   quarrel  on  privi- 
lege    between     the     two 
Houses     which    Shaftes- 
bury dexterously  fanned 
into  flame.     On  the  other 
hand  the   Country    party 
remained    strong  enough 
to    hamper    their    grant 
of    supplies    with    condi- 
tions unacceptable  to  the 
King.        Eager    as    they 
were    for    the    war    with 
France      which      Danby 
promised,  the   Commons 
could       not      trust      the 
King  ;    and     Danby  was 
soon     to     discover     how 
wise    their    distrust    had 
been.       For   the    Houses 
were      no      sooner     pro- 
rogued   than  Charles  re- 
vealed to  him  the  nego- 
tiations he   had  been  all 
the     while    carrying     on 
with  Lewis,  and  required 
him    to   sign    a   treaty    by   which,  on    consideration   of   a    yearly 
pension   guaranteed   on   the  part   of  France,  the   two    sovereigns 
bound    themselves    to    enter    into    no    engagements   with    other 
powers,  and  to  lend  each  other  aid  in  case   of   rebellion  in  their 
dominions.     Such  a  treaty  not  only  bound  England  to  dependence 
on   France,   but   freed    the    King  from   all  Parliamentary  control. 
But  his  minister  pleaded  in  vain  for  delay  and  for  the  advice  of  the 
Council.     Charles  answered  his  entreaties   by  signing   the   treaty 


SIGN    OF    THE    BELL,  KNIGHTRIDER    STREET, 
1668. 

Guildhall  Museum. 


IX 


THE     REVOLUTION 


!399 


Daxby 
1673 

TO 
I678 

Danby's 
measures 


with  his  own  hand.     Danby  found  himself  duped  by  the  King  as      Sec.  iv 

Shaftesbury  had  found  himself  duped  ;   but  his  bold  temper   was 

only  spurred  to  fresh  plans  for  rescuing  Charles  from  his  bondage 

to  Lewis.     To  do  this  the  first  step  was  to  reconcile  the  King  and 

the  Parliament,  which  met  after  a  prorogation  of  fifteen   months. 

The  Country  party  stood  in  the  way  of  such  a  reconciliation,  but  Feb-  l^ll 

Danby  resolved  to  break  its  strength  by  measures  of  unscrupulous 

vigour,  for  which  a  blunder  of  Shaftesbury's  gave  an  opportunity. 

Shaftesbury  despaired  of  bringing  the  House  of  Commons,  elected 

as  it  had  been  fifteen  years  before  in  a  moment  of  religious  and 


SIGN     OF    THE    BOAR'S    HEAD,    EASTCHEAP. 
Guildhall  Museum. 


political  reaction,  to  any  steady  opposition  to  the  Crown.  He  had 
already  moved  an  address  for  a  dissolution ;  and  he  now  urged  that 
as  a  statute  of  Edward  the  Third  ordained  that  Parliaments  should 
be  held  "  once  a  year  or  oftener  if  need  be,"  the  Parliament  by  the 
recent  prorogation  of  a  year  and  a  half  had  ceased  legally  to  exist. 
The  Triennial  Act  deprived  such  an  argument  of  any  force.  But 
Danby  represented  it  as  a  contempt  of  the  House,  and  the  Lords 
at  his  bidding  committed  its  supporters,  Shaftesbury,  Buckingham, 
Salisbury,  and  Wharton,  to  the  Tower.  While  the  Opposition 
cowered  under  the  blow,  Danby  pushed  on  a  measure  which  was 
designed  to  win  back  alarmed  Churchmen  to    confidence    in    the 


1400 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IV 

Danby 

1673 

TO 
I678 


Treaty  of 

Nime- 

guen 


Crown.  By  the  Bill  for  the  security  of  the  Church  it  was  provided 
that  on  the  succession  of  a  king  not  a  member  of  the  Established 
Church  the  appointment  of  bishops  should  be  vested  in  the  existing 
prelates,  and  that  the  King's  children  should  be  placed  in  the 
guardianship  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

The  bill  however  failed  in  the  Commons  ;  and  a  grant  of  supply 
was  only  obtained  by  Danby's  profuse  bribery.  The  progress  of 
the  war  abroad,  indeed,  was  rousing  panic  in  England  faster  than 


SIGN    OF    THE    ANCHOR,     1669. 
Guildhall  Museum. 


Danby  could  allay  it.  New  successes  of  the  French  arms  in 
Flanders,  and  a  defeat  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  at  Cassel,  stirred 
the  whole  country  to  a  cry  for  war.  The  two  Houses  echoed  the 
cry  in  an  address  to  the  Crown ;  but  Charles  parried  the  blow  by 
demanding  a  supply  before  the  war  was  declared,  and  on  the  refusal 
of  the  still  suspicious  House  prorogued  the  Parliament.  Fresh  and 
larger  subsidies  from  France  enabled  him  to  continue  this  pro- 
rogation for  seven  months.  But  the  silence  of  the  Parliament  did 
little  to  silence  the  country  ;  and  Danby  took  advantage    of  the 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


popular  cry  for  war  to  press  an  energetic  course  of  action  on  the 
King.  In  its  will  to  check  French  aggression  the  Cavalier  party 
was   as  earnest  as  the  Puritan,  and   Danby  aimed    at    redeeming 


1673 


his  failure  at  home  by  uniting  the  Parliament  through  a  vigorous 


SIGN     OF    ABRAHAM     BARTLETT,     1678. 

Guildhall  Museum. 


policy  abroad.  As  usual,  Charles  appeared  to  give  way.  He  was 
himself  for  the  moment  uneasy  at  the  appearance  of  the  French  on 
the  Flemish  coast,  and  he  owned  that  "  he  could  never  live  at 
ease  with  his  subjects  "  if  Flanders  were  abandoned.  He  allowed 
Danby,  therefore,  to  press  on  both  parties  the  necessity  for  mutual 


1402 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec^iv     concessions,  and  to  define  the  new  attitude  of  England  by  a  step 
Danbv      which  was  to  produce  momentous  results.     The  Prince  of  Orange 


TO 
I678 


PRINCESS     MARY. 
From   an   etching  by  A.  Mongin,  in   Hemerton's  Portfolio  of  Art,  of  a  picture  by  Sir  P.  Lelv  at 

Hampton  Court. 


was  invited  to  England,  and  wedded    to    Mary,  the    presumptive 
heiress  of  the  Crown.     The  marriage  promised    a    close    political 


ix  THE    REVOLUTION  1403 

union  in  the  future  with   Holland,  and  a  corresponding  opposition      sec.  iv 
to  the  ambition  of  France.     With  the  country  it  was  popular  as  a      Daxby 
Protestant  match,  and  as  ensuring  a  Protestant  successor  to  James.         TO 
But  Lewis  was  bitterly  angered  ;  he  rejected  the  English  proposi-        __ 

tions  of  peace,  and  again  set  his  army  in  the  field.     Danby  was  '   ar^taSe 

ready  to  accept  the  challenge,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  English  William 

J  ■  s    '  &  and  Mary 

ambassador  from  Paris  was  followed  by  an  assembly  of  the  Parlia-  Y^% 
ment.  A  warlike  speech  from  the  throne  was  answered  by  a 
warlike  address  from  the  House,  supplies  were  voted,  and  an  army 
raised.  But  the  actual  declaration  of  war  still  failed  to  appear. 
While  Danby  threatened  France,  Charles  was  busy  turning  the 
threat  to  his  own  profit,  and  gaining  time  by  prorogations  for  a 
series  of  base  negotiations.  At  one  stage  he  demanded  from  Lewis 
a  fresh  pension  for  the  next  three  years  as  the  price  of  his  good 
offices  with  the  allies.  Danby  stooped  to  write  the  demand,  and 
Charles  added,  "  This  letter  is  written  by  my  order,  C.R."'  A  force 
of  three  thousand  English  soldiers  were  landed  at  Ostend  ;  but  the 
allies  were  already  broken  by  their  suspicions  of  the  King's  real 
policy,  and  Charles  soon  agreed  for  a  fresh  pension  to  recall  the 
brigade.  The  bargain  was  hardly  struck  when  Lewis  withdrew  the 
terms  of  peace  he  had  himself  offered,  and  on  the  faith  of  which 
England  had  ostensibly  retired  from  the  scene.  Once  more  Danby 
offered  aid  to  the  allies,  but  all  faith  in  England  was  lost.  One 
power  after  another  gave  way  to  the  new  French  demands,  and  July  1678 
though  Holland,  the  original  cause  of  the  war,  was  saved,  the 
Peace  of  Nimeguen  made  Lewis  the  arbiter  of  Europe. 

Disgraceful  as  the  peace  was  to  England,  it  left  Charles  the  The 
master  of  a  force  of  twenty  thousand  men  levied  for  the  war  he  pfot 
refused  to  declare,  and  with  nearly  a  million  of  French  money 
in  his  pocket.  His  course  had  roused  into  fresh  life  the  old 
suspicions  of  his  perfidy,  and  of  a  secret  plot  with  Lewis  for  the 
ruin  of  English  freedom  and  of  English  religion.  That  there  was 
such  a  plot  we  know  ;  and  from  the  moment  of  the  Treaty  of 
Dover  the  hopes  of  the  Catholic  party  mounted  even  faster 
than  the  panic  of  the  Protestants.  But  they  had  been 
bitterly  disappointed  by  the  King's  withdrawal  from  his  schemes 
after  his  four  years  ineffectual  struggle,  and  by  his  seeming 
return  to  the  policy  of  Clarendon.     Their  anger  and  despair  were 


*4°4 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IV 

Danby 

1673 

TO 
I678 


Titus 
Oates 


revealed  in  letters  from  English  Jesuits,  and  the  correspondence 
of  Coleman.  Coleman,  the  secretary  of  the  Duchess  of  York, 
and  a  busy  intriguer,  had  gained  sufficient  knowledge  of  the 
real  plans  of  the  King  and  of  his  brother  to  warrant  him  in 
begging  for  money  from  Lewis  for  the  work  of  saving  Catholic 
interests  from  Danby's  hostility  by  intrigues  in  the  Parliament. 
A    passage   from   one  of   his  letters   gives    us    a   glimpse    of  the 

wild     dreams    which    were 


stirring  among  the  hotter 
Catholics  of  the  time. 
"  They  had  a  mighty  work 
on  their  hands,"  he  wrote, 
"  no  less  than  the  conver- 
sion of  three  kingdoms, 
and  by  that  perhaps  the 
utter  subduing  of  a  pesti- 
lent heresy  which  had  so 
long  domineered  over  a 
great  part  of  the  northern 
world.  Success  would  give 
the  greatest  blow  to  the 
Protestant  religion  that  it 
had  received  since  its 
birth."  The  suspicions 
which  had  been  stirred  in 
the  public  mind  mounted 
into  alarm  when  the  Peace 
of  Nimeguen  suddenly  left 
Charles  master — as  it 
seemed — of  the  position  ; 
and  it  was  of  this  general 
panic  that  one  of  the  vile  impostors  who  are  always  thrown  to 
the  surface  at  times  of  great  public  agitation  was  ready  to 
take  advantage  by  the  invention  of  a  Popish  plot.  Titus  Oates, 
a  Baptist  minister  before  the  Restoration,  a  curate  and  navy 
chaplain  after  it,  but  left  penniless  by  his  infamous  character, 
had  sought  bread  in- a  conversion  to  Catholicism,  and  had  been 
received  into  Jesuit   houses   at  Valladolid   and   St.  Omer.     While 


Coleman  epcamma7  ul  ATerv: 
•.gale  ly  Jev£ral2L  ords   . 


DESIGN     FOR    PLAYING-CARD,    BY 

VV.    FAITHORNE,    1684. 

British  Museum. 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1405 


Sec.  IV 


Danbv 
1673 

TO 
I678 


he   remained  there,  he  learnt  the  fact  of  a  secret  meeting  of  the 
Jesuits    in    London,  which   was    probably   nothing    but    the    usual 
congregation  of  the  order.     On  his  expulsion  for  misconduct  this 
single  fact  widened  in  his  fertile  brain  into  a  plot  for  the  subver- 
sion of  Protestantism  and  the  death  of  the  King.     His  story  was 
laid    before    Charles,   and    received    with    cool    incredulity  ;    but  Aug-  l67^ 
Oates     made     affidavit 
of    its    truth    before    a 
London  magistrate,  Sir 
Edmondsbury  Godfrey, 
and    at    last    managed 
to    appear    before    the 
Council.     He   declared 
that  he  had  been  trust- 
ed   with    letters    which 
disclosed      the     Jesuit 
plans.     They  were  stir- 
ring   rebellion    in    Ire- 
land ;  in  Scotland  they 
disguised  themselves  as 
Cameronians  ;    in  Eng- 
land their  aim  was  to 
assassinate    the    King, 
and  to  leave  the  throne 
open     to     the     Papist 
Duke    of  York.      The 
extracts     from      Jesuit 
letters    however    which 
he     produced,     though 
they   showed    the    dis- 
appointment and  anger 

of  the  writers,  threw  no  light  on  the  monstrous  charges  of  a 
plot  for  assassination.  Oates  would  have  been  dismissed  indeed 
with  contempt  but  for  the  seizure  of  Coleman's  correspondence 
His  letters  gave  a  new  colour  to  the  plot.  Danby  himself, 
conscious  of  the  truth  that  there  were  designs  which  Charles 
dared  not  avow,  was  shaken  in  his  rejection  of  the  disclosures, 
and  inclined  to  use  them  as  weapons  to  check  the  King  in  his 


DrOates  difcouerethu \Plol 
to  y  I&ny  andCoun ce  11 . 


DESIGN    FOR    PLAYING-CARD,    BY    W.    FAITHORNE, 

1684. 

British  Museum. 


1406 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    PEOPLE 


CHAP. 


Sec.  IV 

Dan  by 

1673 

TO 
I678 


Catholic  policy.  But  a  more  dexterous  hand  had  already  seized 
on  the  growing  panic.  Shaftesbury,  released  after  a  long 
imprisonment  and  hopeless  of  foiling  the  King's  policy  in  any 
other  way,  threw  himself  into  the  plot.  "  Let  the  Treasurer  cry 
as  loud  as  he  pleases  against  Popery,"  he  laughed,  "  I  will  cry 
a  note  louder."     But  no  cry  was  needed  to  heighten   the  popular 

frenzy  from  the  moment 
when  Sir  Edmonds- 
bury  Godfrey,  the  ma- 
gistrate before  whom 
Oates  had  laid  his  in- 
formation, was  found 
in  a  field  near  London 
with  his  sword  run 
through  his  heart.  His 
death  was  assumed  to 
be  murder,  and  the 
murder  to  be  an  at- 
tempt of  the  Jesuits 
to  "  stifle  the  plot."  A 
solemn  funeral  added 
to  public  agitation  ; 
and  the  two  Houses 
named  committees  to 
investigate  the  charges 
made  by  Oates. 

In     this     investiga- 
tion   Shaftesbury   took 
the  lead.    Whatever  his 
personal  ambition  may 
have    been,    his    public 
aims  in  all  that  followed  were  wise  and   far-sighted.     He  aimed 
Danby     at    forcing    Charles   to   dissolve    Parliament   and    appeal    to    the 
nation.     He  aimed  at  driving  Danby  out  of  office  and  at  forcing 
on  Charles  a   ministry   which    should    break    his    dependence    on 
France    and    give    a    constitutional  turn    to   his  policy.      He  saw 
that   no    security   would    really  avail    to    meet    the    danger    of   a 
Catholic  sovereign,  and   he  aimed    at   excluding  James   from   the 


SJj£Ji.Goclfy*ec  taketny  D* 
Oates  his  depositions. 


DESIGN    FOR    PLAYING-CARD,    BY    W.    FAITHORNE, 
1684. 

British  Altiseicm. 


The 
Fall  of 


IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1407 


Cap} Bedlonr  carryinj  letters 
to  Jorraiont  Paris . 


throne.  But  in  pursuing  these  aims  he  rested  wholly  on  the 
plot.  He  fanned  the  popular  panic  by  accepting  without  question 
some  fresh  depositions  in  which  Oates  charged  five  Catholic 
peers  with  part  in  the  Jesuit  conspiracy.  The  peers  were  sent 
to  the  Tower,  and  two  thousand  suspected  persons  were  hurried 
to  prison.  A  proclamation  ordered  every  Catholic  to  leave 
London.       The    trainbands     were     called    to    arms,    and     patrols 

paraded  through  the  streets, 
to  guard  against  the  Ca- 
tholic rising  which  Oates 
declared  to  be  at  hand. 
Meanwhile  Shaftesbury 
turned  the  panic  to  politi- 
cal account  by  forcing 
through  Parliament  a  bill 
which  excluded  Catholics 
from  a  seat  in  either 
House.  The  exclusion  re- 
mained in  force  for  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half;  but  it 
had  really  been  aimed 
against  the  Duke  of  York, 
and  Shaftesbury  was  de- 
feated by  a  proviso  which 
exempted  James  from  the 
operation  of  the  bill.  The 
plot,  which  had  been  sup- 
ported for  four  months  by 
the  sole  evidence  of  Oates, 
began  to  hang  fire  ;  but  a 
promise  of  reward  brought 
forward  a  villain,  named  Bedloe,  with  tales  beside  which  those 
of  Oates  seemed  tame.  The  two  informers  were  now  pressed 
forward  by  an  infamous  rivalry  to  stranger  and  stranger  reve- 
lations. Bedloe  swore  to  the  existence  of  a  plot  for  the  landing 
of  a  Catholic  army  and  a  general  massacre  of  the  Protestants. 
Oates  capped  the  revelations  of  Bedloe  by  charging  the  Queen 
herself,  at  the  bar  of  the   Lords,  with   knowledge  of  the  plot  to 


DESIGN     FOR     PLAYING-CARD,    BY 

\V.    FAITHORNE,    1684. 

British  Museum. 


Sec.  IV 

Danby 

1673 

TO 
I678 


I678 


1679 


SWORD-REST    OF    THE    LORD    MAYOR    OF    LONDON,    C.    l68o, 

in   s.  Helen's   church,   bishopsgate. 


CHAP.    IX 


THE    REVOLUTION 


1409 


murder    her    husband.      Monstrous    as    such    charges    were,   they 
revived  the  waning  frenzy  of   the  people  and  of  the  two  Houses. 
The  peers  under   arrest   were  ordered   to   be   impeached.     A   new 
proclamation   enjoined  the   arrest   of  every  Catholic  in   the  realm. 
A   series   of  judicial   murders  began  with  the  trial    and   execution 
of    Coleman,    which    even    now    can    only    be     remembered    with 
horror.     But    the   alarm    must   soon    have   worn   out    had    it   only 
been  supported  by  perjury.      What  gave   force  to    the   false   plot 
was   the   existence    of   a    true   one.       Coleman's   letters    had    won 
credit  for  the  perjuries  of  Oates,  and   a   fresh   discovery  now  won 
credit  for  the  perjuries  of  Bedloe.      From  the    moment  when   the 
pressure    of    the    Commons    and    of    Danby    had    forced    Charles 
into  a  position  of  seeming  antagonism  to  France,  Lewis   had  re- 
solved to  bring  about   the  dissolution   of  the  Parliament,  the   fall 
of   the   Minister,   and  the   disbanding  of   the  army  which  Danby 
still   looked  on   as  a  weapon  against  him.     For  this  purpose   the 
French  ambassador  had  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  leaders 
of  the   Country  party.     The   English  ambassador  at  Paris,  Ralph 
Montagu,  now  returned  home  on  a  quarrel  with  Danby,  obtained  a 
seat  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  in  spite  of  the  seizure  of  his 
papers,   laid   on   the  table  of  the  House  the  despatch  which   had 
been    forwarded    to    Lewis,   demanding    payment    for    the    King's 
services  to  France  during  the  late  negotiations.     The  House  was 
thunderstruck ;  for  strong  as  had  been   the  general  suspicion,  the 
fact   of  the  dependence  of  England  on  a  foreign  power  had  never 
before  been  proved.     Danby's  name  was  signed  to  the  despatch, 
and  he  was  at  once  impeached  on  a  charge  of  high  treason.     But 
Shaftesbury   was    more    eager    to    secure    the    election    of  a    new 
Parliament   than   to   punish   his   rival,   and   Charles  was    resolved 
to   prevent  at  any  price  a  trial  which  could  not  fail  to  reveal   the 
disgraceful   secret  of  his  foreign  policy.     Charles  was   in   fact   at 
Shaftesbury's  mercy,  and  the  end  for  which  Shaftesbury  had  been 
playing  was  at   last  secured.     In   January,    1679,   the   Parliament 
of    1 66 1,   after    the    longest   unbroken   life    in    our    Parliamentary 
annals,  was  at  last  dissolved. 


Sec.  IV 

Danby 

1673 

TO 
I678 


Lewis 

and  the 

Plot 


Dissolu- 
tion 
of  the 
Parlia- 
ment 


BRIGHAM  YOUNG  UNIVERSITY 


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